7. The public service as a profession. A. L. Lowell, Public Opinion and Popular Government, pp. 264-305; W. H. Allen, Training for the Public Service, pp. 164-181; E. A. Fitzpatrick, Experts in City Government, pp. 71-104.
8. The recall of public officers. Arnold B. Hall, Popular Government, pp. 203-241.
Questions
1. How many “organs” of public opinion can you name? How does each exert an influence? Which one do you consider the most influential?
2. Is public opinion always the sentiment of the majority? If it is not, explain why. Give a concrete illustration.
3. Do you agree with Edmund Burke’s ideas as to the proper function of a representative?
4. When the question of woman suffrage was before the United States Senate, and only one additional vote was needed to pass it, a certain senator declared that while he was personally in favor of granting the suffrage to women the people of his own state had just voted against the proposal and he therefore felt bound to follow their judgment. Was he right or wrong in taking that attitude?
5. Make a list of the administrative officers of your state and community, indicating which ones should be elected and which appointed. Can you think of any proper exceptions to the rule that all administrative offices requiring skill or experience should be filled by appointment?
6. What arguments were put forward in behalf of the spoils system?
7. What sort of civil service tests ought to be applied in selecting persons for the following positions: truck-and-ladder driver in the fire department; gardener in the public park service; bookkeeper in the office of the state treasurer; member of the United States life-saving service; railway-mail clerk; analyst of food and drugs; inspector of wires and lamps; woman police officer; probation officer; draftsman in the state highway department.