632 MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
Among the fields in which there is an increasing degree of State 
supervision and guidance are public education, public health, high- 
way administration, charities and corrections, policing, the assess- 
ment of property, and the accounting, custody, and expenditure of 
public funds. In most of these fields the need appears to be for more 
rather than less regulation and guidance. This need arises not only 
because the tasks are technical, but because the manner in which 
they are performed concerns the whole State. No community can 
live unto itself nor be entirely free to adopt its own standards. 
Arbitrary control on the part of the State would be destructive to 
local initiative and contrary to the principles of democracy, but if the 
relationship between the State and the local authorities is one of coop- 
eration and mutual respect, and the State agency considers itself a 
teacher rather than a dictator, no violence is done to local self- 
government, but rather it is strengthened through the contact. 
Indeed, the helpfulness and steadying influence of a competent, dis- 
interested agency, with a State-wide rather than a local perspective, 
may be the tonic that is needed to revitalize local self-covernment 
and prevent the collapse with which it is threatened in rural areas. 
MORE EFFECTIVE POPULAR CONTROL 
No matter how skillfully the boundaries of a political unit may be 
drawn nor how perfect its administrative set-up, no government is 
self-operating. It will not function efficiently unless there is an 
enlightened and sustained public interest. The machinery of govern- 
ment may be so designed as to make popular control easy or difficult; 
and an easy method of control is more likely to invite a sustained 
public interest than a difficult method. 
Experience has demonstrated that an elaborate system of checks 
and balances, designed to prevent an autocratic usurpation of power 
by any one official, has served only to diffuse responsibility and invite 
manipulation by unofficial agencies. A system which denies an official 
the power to act independently because he might misuse that power 
also ties the hands of a wise and able official who wants to act for the 
public good. Recent years have therefore witnessed a tendency to 
increase the powers and responsibilities of executive officials. 
Likewise, the selection of most officials by popular election was for- 
merly considered a protection against official tyranny—an effective 
instrument of popular control. Experience has demonstrated that 
this device also has failed to contribute either to efficiency or democ- 
racy. The short-ballot principle has been discussed in connection 
with improvement of the administrative personnel of local govern- 
ment. It is also a step toward giving the voter more influence in 
shaping public policy. 
Quite as valuable an instrument of democracy is the budget. Citi- 
zens have an opportunity to attend hearings before its final adoption 
and speak for or against specific items. At these hearings they have 
the year’s work outlined and explained to them, and they are enabled 
to see the whole program in its proper perspective. The hearings 
thus serve to dispel misunderstanding and prejudice, invite useful 
criticisms, and win for the administration the interest and support of 
thoughtful citizens. 
