The political movements favoring this form of bureaucratic government emerged partly in response to the social problem created by the transformation of the United States from an agrarian and highly decentralized society to an urban, industrial, and national society. For government to address social problems in an efficient manner, reformers said repeatedly, government agencies needed to be administration much like the business organizations that, at the time, were bringing about the industrial transformation. For Americans supporting the reform and reorganization movements, bureaucracy meant efficiency and efficiency meant good government.