Download or read book More Than Mayor Or Manager written by James H. Svara and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2010-12-02 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than Mayor or Manager offers in-depth case studies of fourteen large U.S. cities that have considered changing their form of government over the past two decades. The case studies shed light on what these constitutional contests teach us about different forms of governmentùthe causes that support movements for change, what the advocates of change promised, what is at stake for the nature of elected and professional leadership and the relationship between leaders, and why some referendums succeeded while others failed. --
Download or read book More than Mayor or Manager written by James H. Svara and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Different forms of city government are in widespread use across the United States. The two most common structures are the mayor-council form and the council-manager form. In many large U.S. cities, there have been passionate movements to change the structure of city governments and equally intense efforts to defend an existing structure. Charter change (or preservation) is supported to solve problems such as legislative gridlock, corruption, weak executive leadership, short-range policies, or ineffective delivery of services. Some of these cities changed their form of government through referendum while other cities chose to retain the form in use. More than Mayor or Manager offers in-depth case studies of fourteen large U.S. cities that have considered changing their form of government over the past two decades: St. Petersburg, Florida; Spokane, Washington; Hartford, Connecticut; Richmond, Virginia; San Diego, California; Oakland, California; Kansas City, Missouri; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Dallas, Texas; Cincinnati, Ohio; El Paso, Texas; Topeka, Kansas; St. Louis, Missouri; and Portland, Oregon. The case studies shed light on what these constitutional contests teach us about different forms of government—the causes that support movements for change, what the advocates of change promised, what is at stake for the nature of elected and professional leadership and the relationship between leaders, and why some referendums succeeded while others failed. This insightful volume will be of special interest to leaders and interest groups currently considering or facing efforts to change the form of government as well as scholars in the field of urban studies.
Download or read book Official Leadership in the City written by James H. Svara and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1990-03-29 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The burden of addressing the problems of urban society fall increasingly on cities as the federal government cuts back domestic spending. This book examines the roles of mayors, councils, and administrators in governing and managing their cities. Positing that the internal dynamics of city governments are largely shaped by their structures, the author shows how council-manager governmental structures often foster more cooperation than do mayor-council structures. Svara provides contrasting models of interaction among officials in the two forms and shows how conflict and cooperation affect the performance of officials in the two structures; he contends that proper understanding of the roles and behavior appropriate to each will lead to equal effectiveness between the two.
Download or read book Managing America s Small Communities written by David H. Folz and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In their book, Managing America's Small Communities, David Folz and P. Edward French examine the relevant trends, executive behavior, service quality, and service performance measurement in small communities. The theme is the value added to small communities that evidence professionalism in administration. Professional managers base service strategies on needs rather than demands, emphasize long-term community interests, promote equality, and advance citizen participation. The findings show that city managers are more extensively engaged than mayors in governmental process decisions and help to advance the level of service quality in small communities.
Download or read book If Mayors Ruled the World written by Benjamin R. Barber and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In the face of the most perilous challenges of our time--climate change, terrorism, poverty, and trafficking of drugs, guns, and people--the nations of the world seem paralyzed. The problems are too big for governments to deal with. Benjamin Barber contends that cities, and the mayors who run them, can do and are doing a better job than nations. He cites the unique qualities cities worldwide share: pragmatism, civic trust, participation, indifference to borders and sovereignty, and a democratic penchant for networking, creativity, innovation, and cooperation. He demonstrates how city mayors, singly and jointly, are responding to transnational problems more effectively than nation-states mired in ideological infighting and sovereign rivalries. The book features profiles of a dozen mayors around the world, making a persuasive case that the city is democracy's best hope in a globalizing world, and that great mayors are already proving that this is so"--
Download or read book The Facilitative Leader in City Hall written by James H. Svara and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2008-12-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two forms of local government are prevalent in American cities. The style of leadership found in mayor-council cities draws attention to the mayor and frequently involves power struggles as mayors attempt to assert control over city councils and city staff. However, the leadership of the mayor in council-manager cities can be less visible and easily overlooked. The Facilitative Leader in City Hall: Reexamining the Scope and Contributions boldly suggests a collaborative model for leadership that identifies what is unique in the council-manager setting. Mayors acting as facilitative leaders can successfully guide their cities drawing on the contributions of the council and the manager rather than attempting to drive them. Scholar James H. Svara builds on his work in the 1994 book Facilitative Leadership in Local Government, and provides a more critical analysis of the mayor’s office in a wider variety of cities. This book examines the model of facilitative leadership and the importance of vision in explaining the nature of mayoral leadership and its effect on the performance of city government. It analyzes responses from a 2001 national survey of city council members and examines the findings of fourteen case studies of mayors who have served in recent years. The book features ten case studies from council-manager cities, three from mayor-council cities, and one from Denmark that highlights the importance of culture as well as formal structure in understanding leadership style. This book reexamines facilitative leadership across forms of government and addresses two questions: can mayors without separate formal powers be effective leaders? And alternatively, can mayors with formal powers provide more effective leadership by using facilitative approaches? The unexpected answer to both questions is "yes." As cities face the challenge of adapting to new approaches to governance, all mayors need to lead with facilitation and vision.
Download or read book Directly Elected Mayors in Urban Governance written by David Sweeting and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2017-03-15 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though mayors directly elected by the residents of a city are so commonplace as to go without comment in the United States and Canada, in many other countries, including England, Germany, and Hungary, they are a recent development, where they have been pitched as an effective, democratically accountable governing option. But is that actually true? Do directly elected mayors deliver better governance than the alternatives? This book presents the results of an in-depth study of that question and the role of the elected mayor in general, drawing on data from a large number of cities from around the world to show the wide range of policy approaches and outcomes that the position can entail.
Download or read book Transforming Political Leadership in Local Government written by R. Berg and published by Springer. This book was released on 2005-11-10 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Local governments throughout the west are undergoing a transformation of their leadership styles and structures. Some countries have abandoned traditional systems of collective or committee based decision-making in favour of Cabinet models or, more radically, a directly-elected executive mayor, while others have strengthened existing mayoral systems. There are a few exceptions to this trend. Based on original research in eleven countries the book assesses these changes in terms of their implications for political accountability, the role of lay politicians, political recruitment, the professionalization of leadership, and relations with the bureaucracy.
Download or read book Handbook of Research on Strategies for Local E Government Adoption and Implementation Comparative Studies written by Reddick, Christopher G. and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2009-03-31 with total page 1140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book provides examinations of the adoption and impact of e-government"--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book Governing States and Localities written by Kevin B. Smith and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2019-01-03 with total page 585 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The trusted and proven Governing States and Localities guides you through the contentious environment of state and local politics and focuses on the role that economic and budget pressures play on issues facing state and local governments. With their engaging journalistic writing and crisp storytelling, Kevin B. Smith and Alan Greenblatt employ a comparative approach to explain how and why states and localities are both similar and different. The Seventh Edition is thoroughly updated to account for such major developments as state vs. federal conflicts over immigration reform, school shootings, and gun control; the impact of the Donald Trump presidency on intergovernmental relations and issues of central interest to states and localities; and the lingering effects of the Great Recession.
Download or read book Local Government Management written by Douglas J. Watson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some of the very best writings on issues involving local government can be found in journals published by the American Society for Public Administration or journals with which ASPA is associated. This volume includes thirty of the most outstanding articles that have been published over the past sixty years in these journals. Local Government Management is an ideal supplement for any course in local management and administration, whether the audience is students or practicing professionals.
Download or read book Managing the Electronic Government written by Kuno Schedler and published by IAP. This book was released on 2004-11-01 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an insight into the possibilities that so-called “Electronic Government” has to offer. It demonstrates the elements belonging to the concept of E-Government and acts as a point of reference for those aiming to implement it. Checklists and lists of questions enable self-assessment at local, state and federal levels, highlighting opportunities for further development. The book cannot be described as technical—programmers will not find any instructions. Instead, it is designed to act as a point of orientation for decision makers in the field of government and politics, without the need to get bogged down in technical details. Central to the book are the following questions: what is Electronic Government, what advantages does it bring to those involved with it, and how can it be introduced?
Download or read book Managing America s Small Communities written by David H. Folz and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2005-08-25 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Managing America's Small Communities charts several key aspects of the largely unexamined world of small city management. This book describes the democraphic trends, structural features, executive behavior and service quality among small communities. Are small cities growing, declining or have they remained untouched by the force of change? To what extent have the structural changes and reforms that have swept through larger cities touched small communities? What are the characteristics and behaviors of small city chief executives and how involved are different executives in the dimensions of the governmental process? How do chief executives in small cities make decisions about local services and programs? Are there differences in the extent to which appointed managers and elected mayors are responsive to community interests? The book also examines the frequency with which small communities provide various services, the quality of services provided and how small city officials can diagnose problems with service quality and performance. The book's theme is the value added to small communities that evidence professionalism in city administration. The benefits that accrue to having a professional city manager are most apparent in the extent to which city managers are engaged in decisions related to each of the dimensions of the governmental process, the level of service quality provided, and the prospects for measuring service performance.
Download or read book Leadership and Change in Public Sector Organizations written by James D. Ward and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-04-21 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Successful change in the public sector can be supported or hindered by political and administrative leadership, individual and group motivation, and the public’s perception of the effectiveness of public officials and government structures. But do the very characteristics of public sector organizations present obstacles to successful transformative change? This book assesses the current state of the literature on leadership and change in government and public policy, and introduces the reader to innovative new ways to demonstrate leadership in times of change. Contributions from accomplished scholars in the field cover the traditional public administration areas of performance and management, as well as the diversity of issues that surround public leadership and change, both domestic and global. Chapters on public sector innovation, performance leadership, governance networks, complexity in disaster management, change initiatives in educational systems and local government, citizen advisory bodies, and gender and race equality, to name but a few, provide important case studies throughout the volume. Leadership and Change in Public Sector Organizations will be required reading for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in public administration/management, leadership, and public policy analysis.
Download or read book The Adapted City written by H. George Frederickson and published by M.E. Sharpe. This book was released on 2004 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work considers how and why cities change their governing arrangements - and the implications for cities of the future. It provides case studies that show how actual cities have changed and adapted their structure to fit changing times and citizen demands.
Download or read book City Executives written by David N. Ammons and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1988-12-27 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study explores the work life of mayors, city managers, and other top executives in city government. Based on a survey of 527 city executives and enlivened with numerous anecdotes, the book documents time allocation patterns and work routines. City Executives makes comparisons with previous studies to show how city executives compare with managers in other types of organizations. The authors also note how city managers' role has changed over a 20-year period. City executives are shown to be like their private-sector counterparts. For example, they function at a relentless pace, are frequently interrupted in their work, and are generally overburdened. However, because city workers operate in an environment open to public scrutiny, they are left with only a minority of their professional time to attend to matters that they describe as priorities. Instead, they must constantly respond to intergovernmental demands, emergencies, and the needs of citizens and legislative officials.
Download or read book Urban Politics written by Myron Levine and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-02-20 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This popular text mixes classic theory and research on urban politics with the most recent developments and data in urban and metropolitan affairs. Its balanced and realistic approach helps students understand the nature of urban politics and the difficulty of finding effective "solutions" in a suburban and global age. The ninth edition has been thoroughly rewritten and updated with a continued focus on economic development and race, plus renewed attention to globalization, gentrification, and changing demographics. Boxed case studies of prominent recent and current urban development efforts provide material for class discussion, and concluding material demonstrates the tradeoff between more "ideal" and more "pragmatic" urban politics. Key changes in this edition include: Every chapter has been thoroughly updated and rewritten. The Ninth Edition reflects the most current census data and the newest trends in such areas as the "new immigration," suburbanization, gentrification, and big-city revivals; There is coverage of the big-city pension crisis and politics in Stockton, Detroit, and other cities facing possible bankruptcy; A brand-new opening chapter introduces the concepts of the Global City, the Entertainment City, and the Bankrupt City; New photos and boxes appear throughout the book; Increased coverage of policies for sustainable urban development.
