Mr. W. F. Willoughby, in his Principles of Public Administration, holds that “the function of direction, supervision, and control of the administrative activities of the government resides in the legislative branch of the government.” More specifically, he states that, “in the case of our national government at least, Congress is the source of all administrative authority.” It may be suggested however, that an examination of existing systems of government shows a large amount of variation in this respect, and that three main systems may be recognized.

These three main systems may be noted in private as well as in public administration. In undertakings managed directly by a single person, he at the same time is the organizer of the business and conducts its operation. This may be called an autochthonous administration. In collective groups, or societies, a distinction appears between the determination of general policies by the group or society (or by a general committee) and the actual management by the officers or agencies set up by the central group for certain purposes.

The central problem of the administrative structure of government is that of defining administrative jurisdictions. It is only by carefully describing the spheres of activity of organization units and of their employees that responsibility for administrative errors can readily be located. If duties are clearly defined, and if the relations of particular units to other agencies are generally understood, offending units, together with their responsible personnel, may be called to task for failure to perform their assigned duties or for trespass on the spheres of others. The patency of these facts has led American students of federal administration to devote considerable attention to functional jurisdictions. During the past generation there have been a multitude of proposals for the reallocation of functions among the bureaus, departments, and independent establishments of the federal government. Intent upon these functional concerns, American students have denied or ignored the importance of the territorial definition of jurisdictions.

The influence of the business cycle on politics has been studied by Rice and Tibbitts. But the influence of politics on the business cycle has not been systematically investigated, although Ayres has shown that prosperous times are about equally divided between Republican and Democratic administrations, and Mitchell has shown that the curve of business during presidential administrations is not at all like the business cycle. There is a popular impression that business is not as good during the year of a presidential election as in other years. It is the purpose of this paper to present the results of an investigation of this question.

The year 1935—being one of the alternate years during which state politicians exert their persuasive talents in the capitols and not on the hustings—witnessed 44 regular and 21 special sessions of state legislatures. And only the Virginians entirely eschewed both regular and special legislating for the twelve-month period. But despite the 7,400 zealous legislators busily law-bent, and the thousands of new statutes now ornamenting the statute-books for better or for worse, only 40 constitutional amendments successfully emerged from preliminary contests and qualified for the final test match with the electorate. Of these, 25 were victorious. Most votes on constitutional amendments are reserved for the year of regular elections.

Although few important changes have been made in the laws regulating primary elections during the last two years, some of those which have been made are novel and may foreshadow interesting future developments.

The year immediately preceding a presidential campaign usually brings some changes in the presidential primaries, and 1935 was no exception. North Dakota has repealed its presidential primary provisions, and in Oregon repeal was voted by the legislature but defeated at a referendum vote. Hereafter, delegates to the national nominating conventions in North Dakota are to be chosen by a state convention meeting at a time and place fixed by the party state central committee. The Oregon law, which was defeated, provided for the choice of delegates at large by the state central committee and of district delegates by district nominating committeemen.

Parochialism occurs as a problem when there is a combination of such factors as geographical isolation, independent historical traditions, racial or religious differences plus local or class economic interests. In New Mexico, one finds all of these factors present, and the variety of combinations produced by cross-currents and cleavages on party issues are kaleidoscopic. In the state, one finds a race-conscious group with social, economic, and cultural differences which mark it off from other people, and possessing a class solidarity in politics; and a distinct ethno-political alignment is the result.

In the application of statutes and regulations governing naturalization in the United States, an ingenious administrative device has been evolved which avoids the ineffectiveness and cumbersomeness of the ordinary courts as well as the abuses occasionally characterizing the non-reviewable action of executive agencies at the other extreme. Under an act of 1926, “preliminary hearings” on naturalization petitions are conducted by examiners of the Naturalization Service designated by federal district judges, and recommendations are made to the court which has jurisdiction to grant or withhold citizenship. The examiner resembles a master or a referee rather than an administrative tribunal; yet, unlike many officers of courts in equity matters, he is subject to effective supervision by his administrative superiors.

It is axiomatic that some supreme courts are more influential than others. A dictum by one judge may carry more weight than a decision by another. Anyone who has studied the opinions of our highest courts is constantly assigning values to them, and the combination of these impressions may determine the relative standing of these tribunals for that individual. That this process of appreciation or depreciation is usually unconscious, and frequently irrational, does not make the prestige which results from it any less real or less potent a factor.

For many years, the organized Bar has sought to guide the process of judicial selection. Its greatest activity has been in metropolitan communities where the choice is nominally by vote of the people. Such participation by a quasi-public group in a democratic procedure raises several pertinent questions. For example, what effect will it probably have on methods of selection now in force? Is such activity likely to become an accepted feature of our political life? Is such participation to be regarded as in the public interest? Is it a specific corrective that the body politic has developed to counterbalance too much democracy in judicial selection?

To shed some light on these and related questions, the writer (as a graduate student at the University of Chicago) made a study of judicial selection in Chicago from 1870 to 1933, particular attention being given to the rôle of the Chicago Bar Association in the process.

Revolutions shift power not only from one economic class to another, but also from one governmental level to another. Not only is there a new deal between industrialists and laborers, between financiers and merchants, between those in the higher and those in the lower income brackets, but the centers of strength also shift from one region to another and from one governmental authority to another; and there is a new balance of power between the province and the nation, between the city and the state.

The liquidation of the German states (Länder) is now substantially complete. A few traces of old snow from the Weimar winter still remain, but these are rapidly melting away under the sun of National Socialism. The ancient problem of Reichsreform, of Bundesstaat versus Einheitsstaat, has been solved in favor of the unitary, totalitarian Reich. The liquidating process may be studied under three separate, but closely related, topics. These are: the governmental reorganization and subordination of the Länder to the Reich; the unification of German law; and the territorial reform of the Länder.