HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN BUREAUCRACY| 333
ton Plunkitt, put it, “This civil service law is the biggest fraud of the age. It is the
curse of the nation.... How are you going to interest our young men in their coun-
try if you have no offi ces to give them when they work for their party?”^25 Plunkitt
meant that without the spoils system, organizations like his would be in serious
danger of losing their hold on government, as they would be unable to use the prom-
ise of a government job to motivate people to help elect the machine’s candidates.
The New Deal, the Great Society, and the Reagan Revolution
Dramatic expansion of the federal bureaucracy occurred during the New Deal
period in the 1930s and during the mid-1960s Great Society era. In both cases, the
changes were driven by a combination of citizen demands and the preferences of
elected offi cials who favored an increased role of government in society. This expan-
sion was only marginally curtailed during the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s.
THE NEW DEAL
The New Deal comprised government programs implemented during Franklin
Roosevelt’s fi rst term as president in the 1930s. These programs were partly a
response to the Great Depression and the inability of local governments and pri-
vate charities to respond to this economic crisis. Many advocates of the New Deal
also favored an expanded role for government in American society, regardless of
the immediate need for intervention.^26 Roosevelt’s programs included reforms to
the fi nancial industry as well as eff orts to help people directly and to stimulate
employment, economic growth, and the formation of labor unions. The Social
Security Act, the fi rst federally funded pension program for all Americans, was
also passed as part of the New Deal.^27
These reforms represented a vast increase in the size and responsibilities of the
bureaucracy, as well as a large transfer of power to bureaucrats and to the presi-
dent.^28 Before the New Deal, the federal government infl uenced citizens’ choices
through activities such as regulating industries and workplace conditions. After-
ward, it took on the role of delivering a wide range of benefi ts and services directly
to individuals, from jobs to electricity, as well as increased regulation of many
industries, including the banking and fi nancial industries.
Expansion of the federal government and the subsequent delegation of power to
bureaucrats and to the president were controversial changes.^29 Many Republicans
opposed New Deal reforms because they believed that the federal government
could not deliver services effi ciently and that an expanded federal bureaucracy
would create a modern spoils system. Many southerners worried that the federal
government’s increased involvement in everyday life would endanger the system
of racial segregation in southern states.^30 Even so, Democratic supporters of the
New Deal, aided by public support, carried the day.
THE GREAT SOCIETY
The Great Society was a further expansion in the size and activities of the bureau-
cracy that occurred during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency (1963–69). Johnson pro-
posed and Congress enacted programs that funded bilingual education, loans and