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Writing in 1919, Mr. W. F. Willoughby declared that "at the present time few reforms of government in the United States are more urgent than that of the reorganization of the administrative services of our state governments, so as to put them upon the integrated or departmental basis." This need for state administrative reorganization is now generally recognized, not only by political scientists and students of administration, but also by public officials and practical administrators. This is indicated by the large number of governors who, in public messages, have urged upon their legislatures the adoption of measures of administrative reform; by the investigations and reports of efficiency and economy commissions or similar bodies created in many states; and by the laws actually passed providing for administrative reorganization in Illinois, Idaho, Nebraska, Ohio, Washington, Massachusetts, and other states.A movement of this character naturally follows the line of least resistance, and consequently the changes in administrative organization heretofore made have been through statutory enactment rather than through constitutional revision. Inasmuch as, in most states, a faulty organization of the administration is stereotyped in the constitution, thoroughgoing reorganization by mere statutory enactment is practically impossible. The constitutional difficulties which impede the movement for administrative reorganization should warn us against the insertion in the organic law of detailed administrative provisions.

Current debates in social sciences about changes which have taken place in production, particularly within the last decade, abound in the use of categories such as fordism, post-fordism, industrial districts, agglomerations, company networks, etc., which attempt to reflect, analyze and interpret the roots of these changes and their repercussions for work, social classes and society. In many cases these interpretations are theoretically (and politically) oriented, and the debate between different "styles of interpretation" or paradigms is livelier than ever. Moreover, the fields of research and the case studies most commonly mentioned in the literature are frequently subject to contradictory interpretation. Fundamentally based on original field research, as well as on an extensive review of the existing literature, in this paper we propose the use of approach criteria as a way of deepening our understanding of the social reality surrounding current systems of production: 1) the reconstruction of the global production process; 2) the location of work centers and networks in a territorial context; and 3) the analysis of social and institutional relations, the "industrial atmosphere."

During the past year, the county reorganization problem has been attacked in Ohio along two fronts, corresponding to the two lines of procedure permitted by the state constitution. Under the home rule amendment adopted in 1933, the legislature is empowered to enact optional plans of county government and counties are also authorized to frame and adopt their own charters. The last twelve months have witnessed the first contests over the application of these provisions. A comprehensive program of county reorganization measures has been presented to the legislature and charters have been submitted in four leading counties. The principal accomplishment thus far has been the approval of the Cuyahoga county (Cleveland) charter by a substantial majority vote in the county as a whole.

The governor of Minnesota, Hon. A. O. Eberhart, in his message to the state legislature in 1911, made an exhaustive statement concerning the defective and expensive administrative system of the state, pointing out the lack of adequate centralization, responsibility and coöperation, suggesting a definite plan of reorganization, and making an earnest plea for legislative action; but his plea fell upon deaf ears. Again in 1913 he reargued the case but restricted his suggestions to the reorganization and systematization of only two departments: (1) the department of public domain and (2) the department of agriculture. These departments were not reorganized; instead the House of Representatives appointed a committee on public accounts. This committee made a partial study of the situation and filed a report. Nothing further was done except to introduce more than half a hundred bills dealing with state economy and efficiency, one of which passed, an act providing for an educational commission for investigation purposes.Perhaps one reason the legislature did not undertake a thoroughgoing reorganization of the administrative machinery of the state government is because the members wanted a scientific, impartial investigation of the whole subject made so that action might be taken only after full knowledge. However, the legislature did not provide for a general committee to study the whole situation but went at it piecemeal by providing for a commission to study a single problem.

Apart from the agitation of such questions as the regulation of primary elections, equal suffrage, the initiative and referendum, and the debates on the establishment of the board of control of state institutions in 1898 and the creation of the state board of education in 1909, there has been little or no discussion of the problem of the reorganization of state government in Iowa until very recently. Indeed, a lively interest in the problems of reorganization seems first to have found expression in 1913 in the thirty-fifth general assembly which, besides endorsing the short ballot principle by providing for the appointment of the state superintendent of public instruction, the clerk of the supreme court, and the supreme court reporter, authorized the joint committee on retrenchment and reform to employ "expert accountants and efficiency engineers" and to "institute such changes in the administration of public affairs as will promote the efficiency and economical administration of the affairs of the State in its various departments."It was in accordance with the legislation of March 17, 1913, that the firm of Quail, Parker & Co. was engaged to assist the joint committee on retrenchment and reform and under the direction and supervision of that committee "to examine and report upon the existing procedures incident to the transaction of the business of the State in the various offices and departments located at the seat of government in the city of Des Moines; and to make recommendations with a view to the betterment thereof." The sum of $10,000 was appropriated to meet the expenses of the proposed investigations.

While the general policy governing the nature and the degree of American participation in international affairs may still be regarded as a contested issue, an unequivocal decision has been reached with respect to our foreign service.Through the enactment of the Rogers Bill, for the reorganization and improvement of the foreign service, a basis has been fixed and a structure provided which are destined to place the foreign representation of the United States in the forefront of diplomatic efficiency. It is not to be concluded that this strengthening and remodeling of the diplomatic machinery is necessarily anticipatory of a forthcoming broader participation in world affairs, or that Congress has acted in the reverse order of logic by perfecting an instrumentality for the conduct of our foreign relations before the nature and the extent of those relations have been finally determined. The need of a strong foreign service is obvious.The position of the United States has become so commanding that its every act, whether of a positive or of a negative character, is fraught with important consequences to other nations and not infrequently with equally important repercussions at home. A policy of isolation or aloofness, in which the interests of the world are engaged, is perhaps even more difficult to maintain than a policy of active participation.