102 THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 



partment of government from encroaching upon the liberties of 

 citizens. In practice it means that the people have no real control 

 o\er the government, and it opens the way to every sort of fraud 

 and trickery. 



How is it that a system so excellent in theory works so badly? 

 The answer is brief — namely, that this system make it impossible to 

 fix responsibility for mismanagement or fraud on anyone. Unless 

 the people know definitely what person, or at least what political 

 party, should be blamed when things go wrong, they lack the first 

 prerequisite to m.aking things go right. 



Under the Oklahoma system of state organization, the governor 

 while called the "chief executive," is really only one of many execu- 

 tive and administrative officers, each of whom is elected by the 

 people, with powers and duties fixed by the state constitution. Since 

 the governor cannot remove these officials, no matter how badly 

 they may mismanage affairs, he lacks all real control over them; 

 for, as Dr. Cleveland points out, direction of officers comes from 

 the power to "hire and fire." 



The relationship between the governor and the legislature is 

 as unsatisfactory as that between the governor and the other execu- 

 tive officers. Under the most favorable circumstances the governor 

 has no way of compelling the legislature to pay any attention to his 

 recommendations, nor has the legislature any way of compelling 

 the governor to carry out its plans, except such influence as may 

 arise from the need of "party harmony." When, as frequently 

 happens, the governor and one or both houses of the legislature are 

 of different political parties, the state's business must come to a 

 standstill, as was the case in Oklahoma during the 1921 session of 

 the legislature. 



What remedy could be applied to this situation? The writer 

 believes that a reorganization of state government following busi- 

 ness principles is needed. In any large business enterprise, the 

 stockholders elect a board of directors, and the board of directors 

 chooses an executive head of the business, who is given a free 

 hand in selecting subordinates and managing the business, subject 

 to the approval of the directors. If the business is not managed 

 to suit the directors, they select a new manager ; if it is not managed 

 to suit the stockholders they select a new board of directors. Such 

 a system fixes responsibility, and makes rapid readjustments 

 possible. 



Similarly, a one-house state legislature elected by the people 

 should be entrusted with the selection of a governor. This would 

 insure harmony between legislative and executive. The fear that 



