Institutionalizing Congress and the Presidency

“This classy administrative history of the first presidential staff agency provides a microcosm of the challenges any federal agency faces in its dealings with White House, Congress, and departmental turfs. As a unit in the Civil Service Commission (CSC) (1913–1916) and as independent Bureau of Efficiency (1916–1933) (BoE), this agency spans the transfer period between the decline of Congressional government and the ascendancy of the managerial presidency. Lack of solid archival research explains the mixed assessment of the BoE’s accomplishments. Lee’s study gently yet firmly corrects this. The BoE, initially established to design efficiency ratings for performance evaluations of civil servants, broadened its scope to an all-purpose analysis and investigative unit. It helps in developing policy analysis, management analysis and program evaluation. The author carefully balances attention for the BoE’s internal structure and functioning with its operations in a subtly hostile political-administrative environment. Written without jargon and backed by extensive documentation, this study is a delight to read and challenges public administration scholarship to set records straight beyond applied and statistical-quantitative approaches.”--Jos Raadschelders, Professor of Public Administration, Henry Bellmon Chair of Public Service, Managing Editor Public Administration Review