Worked Out in Fractions

Presidents seem to scorn the “neutral competence” political scientists insist they need. Franklin Roosevelt (1933-45), however, evidently embraced this administrative approach–even at a time when the demands for presidential leadership were arguably greater than those experienced by any of his successors. Roosevelt thus offers an important historical test case for both critics and advocates of neutral competence. Focusing specifically on the Bureau of the Budget (BoB), we ask what historical circumstances dictated FDR's use of this agency; how, if at all, that use comported with the more abstract notions of a neutrally competent presidential staff; and what lessons, if any, result for modern presidents. We argue that the BoB under FDR epitomized neutral competence, but that this orientation responded to his political needs. More generally, we conclude that what constitutes responsiveness varies greatly depending on a president's political context. [T]he gulf between the textbook approach to staffing the presidency and the approach adopted by most postwar presidents is so great that one may be tempted to ask whether the institutional presidency, originally advocated by Brownlow fifty years ago, has not just been a figment of the imagination of political scientists and public administrators. John Hart, “The Presidential Branch” (1995, 216

Competence (human resources · Economics · Management · Political science · Politics · Presidency · Presidential system · Staffing · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

• The Politics of U.S. Ambassadorial Appointments

  Open Access•Richard W Waterman, John G Bretting et al.•Social Science Quarterly•2015

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• The Triumph of Loyalty Over Competence

  Open Access•Donald P Moynihan, Alasdair Roberts et al.•Public Administration Review•2010

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• Playing the Wrong Part

  Open Access•Joseph White•Public Administration Review•2011

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• Making the managerial presidency

  Peri E Arnold•Making the managerial presidency•1986

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• FDR, Lewis Douglas, and the, Raw Deal

  Open Access•Kelly McMichael Stott•Historian•2000

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• No passion for Brownlow

  John Hart, John Fraser Hart•Politics•1982

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• A Tale of Two Agencies

  Open Access•Allen Schick•Political Science Quarterly•1984

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• The Budget Bureau

  Norman M Pearson•Public Administration Review•1943

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• Traditional Organizational Principles and the Managerial Presidency

  Ronald C Moe•Public Administration Review•1990

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• Presidents, Responsiveness, and Competence

  Open Access•Matthew J Dickinson, Matthew Dickinson et al.•Political Science Quarterly•2004

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• Presidency and Legislation

  Open Access•Richard E Neustadt•American Political Science Review•1954

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