Problems in American Democracy - Part 79
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Part 79

7. Describe the work of the Department of War.

8. What are the chief functions of the Secretary of the Navy?

9. What are the chief duties of the Attorney-General?

10. Describe the work of the Post Office Department.

11. What types of work are the concern of the Department of the Interior?

12. Discuss briefly the work of the Department of Agriculture.

13. What is the function of the Department of Commerce? Of the Department of Labor?

14. Name some of the more important boards and commissions which are independent of the ten executive departments.

REQUIRED READINGS

1. Beard, _American Government and Politics_, chapter ii.

2. Guitteau, _Government and Politics in the United States_, chapter xxvii.

3. Munro, _The Government of the United States_, chapter ix.

4. Reed, _Form and Functions of American Government_, chapter xxiv.

QUESTIONS ON THE REQUIRED READINGS

1. Outline the duties which are common to the heads of all of the executive departments. (Beard, pages 216-218.)

2. Contrast the National administration with the state administration.

(Reed, pages 286-287.)

3. What is the purpose of the Library of Congress? (Reed, pages 298- 299.)

4. Describe the work of the General Land Office under the Department of the Interior. (Guitteau, pages 318-319.)

5. What is the function of the Commissioner of Patents? (Guitteau, page 319.)

6. What are the duties of the Commissioner of Education, under the Secretary of the Interior? (Guitteau, page 320.)

7. Name some of the more important boards and commissions created during the World War. (Guitteau, pages 325-326.)

8. Compare our Department of the Interior with the Department of the Interior in France. (Munro, pages 136-137.)

9. What is meant by the statement that the National administration is decentralized? (Munro, page 142.)

10. Describe briefly the work of the Civil Service Commission. (Beard, pages 222-224.)

TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT

1. Membership of the President's Cabinet at the present time.

2. The biography of some one member of the President's Cabinet.

3. The work of some bureau or department in the National administration. (Reports on the work of the various departments may be secured by writing to the respective departments at Washington, D.

C. See also Fairlie, _The National Administration of the United States of America_.)

4. Compare the National administration with the administrative department in your state, with respect to

(a) Scope of work

(b) Centralization

(c) Efficiency

(d) Control by the people.

II

5. Evolution of the executive. (Gettell, _Introduction to Political Science_, chapter xix.)

6. Functions of the Federal executive. (Kimball, _The National Government of the United States_, chapter x.)

7. A history of the President's Cabinet. (Consult an encyclopedia.)

8. Membership of the Cabinet. (Fairlie, _The National Administration of the United States_, chapter iv.)

9. An Englishman's view of the American Cabinet. (Bryce, _The American Commonwealth_, vol. i, chapter ix.)

10. The Department of State. (Fairlie, _The National Administration of the United States_, chapter vi.)

11. The Department of the Treasury. (Fairlie, _The National Administration of the United States_, chapters vii and viii.)

12. The Department of War. (Fairlie, _The National Administration of the United States_, chapter ix.)

13. The Department of the Navy. (Fairlie, _The National Administration of the United States_, chapter x.)

14. The Department of Justice. (Fairlie, _The National Administration of the United States_, chapter xi.)

15. The Post Office Department. (Fairlie, _The National Administration of the United States_, chapter xii.)

16. The Department of the Interior. (Fairlie, _The National Administration of the United States_, chapters xiii and xiv.)

17. The Department of Agriculture. (Fairlie, _The National Administration of the United States_, chapter xv.)