...partisan administrators, declaring that public administration required no special capabilities: "The duties of all public officers are, or at least admit...in office than is generally to be gained by their experience."n Under Andrew Jackson, between 10 and 20 percent of the government's administrative personnel...

...position. In his first annual message, Jackson maintained that "the duties of all public officers are ... so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance; and I can not but believe that more is lost by the long continuance of men in office than is generally to...

...the two forms continue to diminish. Andrew Jackson could argue in 1829 that public positions could be made "so plain and simple that men of intelligence...readily qualify themselves for their performance," but training is more complex and time-consuming today. The reformed structures once featured better-trained...

...and exploit the personal touch. Thus Jackson believed (as did Lenin) that official duties could be made 'so plain and simple that men of intelligence...readily qualify themselves for their performance.' The 'good side' of the spoils system was that it brought more people into the sphere of governmental...

...Andrew Jackson, who once said: The duties of all public offices are, at least, admit of being maue so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance. Offices were not established to give support to particular men at the public expense. No individual...

...1ts legitimate ends and make it an engine for the support of the few at the expense of the many. The duties of all public officers are, or at least admit...plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qual1fy themselves for their performance; and I can not but believe that more is lost by the long continuance...

...Jackson, speaking for many of his countrymen, insisted that "The duties of all public officers are ... so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance." 1 That included the military. From his own experience, Jackson had concluded that standing armies were...

...readily qualify themselves for their performance; and I cannot but believe that more is lost by the continuance of men in office than is generally to be gained by their experience" (quoted in Morone 87). But Whitman's refusal of virtual political representation is also noteworthy...

...belief that government ought to be simple and understandable. In the words of Andrew Jackson, "The duties of all public officers are, or at least admit...intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance."117 Qualified or not, the legislators had no professional staff to assist them and no...

...required for executing public work. After all, as Jackson put it, "The duties of all public offices are, or at least admit of being made, so plain and...intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance."43 So anyone might be sufficiently able and virtuous enough to do public work. But Jackson...