Charles Edward Merriam Quotes
If nothing is to be done in the given situation, he must invent plausible reasons for doing nothing; and if something must be done, he must suggest the something. The unpardonable sin is to propose nothing, when action is imperative.
Merriam, Charles Edward. Political Power: Its Composition and Incidence. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1934.
This is the earliest use of the “pass the buck” phrase in politics that we have found. The term originated in gambling. In a poker game, the “buck” was a physical object token that would be passed from player to player to indicate who was to deal.
Charles Edward Merriam Jr. (1874–1953) was an American professor of political science at the University of Chicago, founder of the behavioral approach to political science, a trainer of many graduate students, a prominent intellectual in the Progressive Movement, and an advisor to several US Presidents. Upon his death, The New York Times called him "one of the outstanding political scientists in the country".
