The Failed Presidency of Franklin Roosevelt: The Rise of the Managerial State

The worldwide shift manifested itself, he wrote, in the broadening "Scope of the activities of the state." As the state assumed greater powers in the name of "Progress," it necessarily grew in size and bureaucratization, and led to the rise of a new ruling class that Burnham labeled the "Managers." This new ruling class was no different from history's other ruling classes - its primary goal was to achieve, maintain, and expand its political and social power and influence.

A key element in the rise of the managerial state in the United States was the Roosevelt administration's expanded power over the nation's economy.

Burnham did not directly blame FDR for the creation of the managerial state he wrote, "As a brilliant and demagogic popular politician," he enabled and rode the New Deal "When it fits his purposes." FDR oversees the managers but the revolutionary goals are theorized and the revolutionary work is carried out by "The group of administrators, experts, technicians, bureaucrats" - all placed throughout the state apparatus.

The war, of course, also added to the growth of the managerial state.

Burnham, who died in 1987, would not be surprised at the immense power of today's managerial state in Washington, D.C., where medical bureaucrats govern how physicians treat their patients and impose unprecedented restrictions and mandates on businesses and individuals; where military bureaucrats seek to control the thoughts and opinions of our soldiers; where education bureaucrats encourage the labeling and possible prosecution of parents as "Domestic terrorists"; where economic bureaucrats control the supply of money and the rates of interest that people can earn on their savings; and where environmental bureaucrats impose restrictions on the use of private property.

Michael Lind has noted in a Wall Street Journal column that the United States is ruled today by a managerial oligarchy composed of politicians, corporate managers, and progressive intellectuals that hold power "At the commanding heights of the economy, the culture, and politics." He calls them a "Single conformist caste," and sees the wave of populism that is the Trump movement as a reaction to this managerial elite.

Lind rightly views the rise of the managerial state as a threat to democracy, liberty, and freedom.

https://spectator.org/the-failed-presidency-of-franklin-roosevelt-the-rise-of-the-managerial-state/