Bundy Urges People into Government; Asks 'Maximum Practical Participation'

The public must exercise its "maximum practicable participation" in the governing process, McGeorge Bundy said last night in the concluding Godkin Lecture.

But such participation, he said, can only come about if the Executive power is strengthened. "The way to give a share of power to the people," he said, "is first to give real power to the agency of government concerned."

Bundy said his experiences as Dean of the Faculty at Harvard had taught him that "the effective exercise of his great power had both permitted and required the maximum practical participation of the Faculty."

Suspicions and Restrictions

Discussing measures for increasing Executive power, he mentioned that in the past there has been a tendency to stifle "brave new enterprises" once the sense of urgency had passed. After the initial enthusiasm faded, he said, the projects were destroyed by a variety of bureaucratic "suspicions and restrictions."

The only remedy to the situation, Bundy added, is for the American public as a whole to believe in the government's natural authority to act.

Bundy warned, however, that the people must participate actively to ensure that the government remains accountable to them.

He devoted much of the rest of the lecture to suggesting the specific forms of participation open to University students.

Avoid Arrogance

Bundy advised students to bide their time for now, preparing for a career connected with government. But he cautioned those who planned administrative or political careers to avoid arrogance. Rulers must always keep in mind, he said, their accountability to the general public, and their "sympathetic membership" in the public.

Bundy also seemed favorably disposed to careers that were socially useful, such as public school teaching and urban welfare work.

Win Public Approval

He emphasized that governments should always try to win the peoples approval and support for their actions, primarily by preparing them to accept strong government policies for freedom. Otherwise, he said, the traditional American distrust of government may be replaced by a clamor for stronger tactics in time of crisis.