With its creation of the U.S. Bureau of Efficiency in 1916, Congress 
sought to bring the principles of "scientific management" to the 
federal government. Although this first staff agency in the executive 
branch lasted only a relatively short time, it was the first central 
agency in the federal government dedicated to improving the 
management of the executive branch.

    Mordecai Lee offers both a chronological history of the agency and 
a thematic treatment of the structure, staffing, and work processes of 
the bureau; its substantive activities; and its effects on the 
development of both the executive and the legislative branches.

    Charged with conducting management and policy analyses at the 
direction of the president, this bureau presaged the emergence of the 
activist and modern executive branch. The Bureau of Efficiency was 
also the first legislative branch agency, ushering in the large 
administrative infrastructure that now supports the policy-making and 
program oversight roles of Congress.

    The Bureau of Efficiency's assistance to presidents foreshadowed 
the eventual change in the role of the president vis-a-vis Congress; it 
helped upend the separation of powers doctrine by giving the modern 
executive the management tools for preeminence over the legislative 
branch.

_________________________________________________________

MORDECAI LEE, who holds a Ph.D. from Syracuse University, is a 
professor of governmental affairs at the University of Wisconsin–
Milwaukee. Previously, he served as a state senator as well as 
legislative assistant to a U.S. Congressman.


The Presidency and Leadership, A Joseph V. Hughes, Jr., and Holly O. 
Hughes Book


What people are saying about this book

"Written without jargon and backed by extensive documentation, this 
study is a delight to read and challenges public administration 
scholarship to set records straight . . ."—Jos Raadschelders, Professor 
of Public Administration, Henry Bellmon Chair of Public Service, 
University of Oklahoma

". . . a fascinating and meaningful contribution to the public 
administration literature."—Larry S. Luton, Professor, Eastern 
Washington University

"In a field with far too little historical analysis, Mordecai Lee's 
careful study of the U.S. Bureau of Efficiency is most welcome 
indeed."—Guy B. Adams, Professor and Associate Director, Truman 
School of Public Affairs, University of Missouri–Columbia