A growing body of recent literature documents the city manager's politically active role in today's communities. This role challenges the normative assumption upon which the council-manager plan of government is based; namely that the city manager is a politically neutral, administrative expert subordinate to a governing body. On the basis of in-depth interviews and the published work of today's city managers primarily, the way city managers explain and justify their role is identified and examined.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson, C. [Interviewed by Arthur Davis.] Unpublished manuscript, April 20, 1986. (Available from John Nalbandian, Department of Public Administration, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66046.)
2.
Anderson, E. A.
(1989). Response to "City management at a crossroads." In H. G. Frederickson (Ed.), Ideal and practice in council-manager government (pp. 195-196). Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
3.
Barrett, R. A.
, & Harmon, B. D. (1972). External relationships of city councils. Baseline Data Report (Vol. 4) Washington, DC: International City Management Association. (Monograph)
4.
Blubaugh, D. A.
(1987). The changing role of the public administrator. Public Management, 69 (June), 7-10.
5.
Brown, L. J.
(1989). Response to "Policy and administration: City managers as comprehensive professional leaders." In H. G. Frederickson (Ed.), Ideal and practice in council-manager government (pp. 94-96). Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
6.
Coile, N.
(1988). The city manager who never takes no for an answer. Governing, 2 (October), 45-49.
7.
Edwards, J. T.
, Nalbandian, J., & Wedel, K. (1981). Individual values and professional education: implications for practice and education. Administration and Society, 13, 123-143.
8.
Ehrenhalt, A.
(1988). How a liberal government came to power in a conservative suburb. Governing, 1 (March), 51-56.
9.
Green, R. E.
(1987). Local government managers: Styles and challenges. Baseline data report, (Vol. 19). Washington, DC: International City management Association.
10.
Hale, M. L.
(1989). The nature of city managers' work. In H. G. Frederickson (Ed.), Ideal and practice in council-manager government (pp. 168-176). Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
11.
Herchert, R. [Interviewed by Ardenia Holland.] Unpublished manuscript, April 20, 1986. (Available from John Nalbandian, Department of Public Administration, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66046.)
12.
Hinton, D. W.
, & Kerrigan, J. E. (1989). Tracing the changing knowledge and skill needs and service activities of public managers. In H. G. Frederickson (Ed.), Ideal and practice in council-manager government (pp.155-164). Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
13.
Housewright, E.
(1989, March 11). Cultural affairs department urged. Dallas Morning News, p. 38A.
14.
Huntley, R. J.
, & Macdonald, R. J. (1975). Urban managers: Organizational preferences, managerial styles, and social policy roles. In Municipal yearbook (pp. 149-159). Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
15.
ICMA code of ethics with guidelines
. (1984). Public Management, 66 (February), 10.
16.
International City Management Association
. (1988, November 21). 1988 state of the profession survey results. ICMA Newsletter. Washington, DC: Author.
17.
Kipp, R.
(1987). [Interviewed by Jeffrey Sharp.] In J. Nalbandian & R. Davis (Eds.), Reflections of local government professionals (pp. 107-120). Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, Department of Public Administration.
18.
McFall, B. [Interviewed by Carol King.] Unpublished manuscript, April 20. 1986. (Available from John Nalbandian, Department of Public Administration, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66046.)
19.
Mora, D.
(1987). [Interviewed by Jere Kersnar.] In J. Nalbandian & R. Davis (Eds.), Reflections of local government professionals (pp. 121-134). Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, Department of Public Administration.
20.
Nalbandian, J.
and Davis, R. G. (1987). Reflections of local government professionals, Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, Department of Public Administration.
21.
Nalbandian, J.
, & Edwards, J. T. (1983). The professional values of public administrators: a comparison with lawyers, social workers, and business administrators. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 4, 1-11.
22.
National League of Cities
. (1980). A national survey of city council members: Issues in council leadership. Washington, DC: Author.
23.
Newell, C.
, & Ammons, D. N. (1987). Role emphasis of city managers and other municipal executives. Public Administration Review, 47, 246-253.
24.
Newland, C. A.
(1989). The future of council-manager government. In G. H. Frederickson (Ed.), Ideal and practice in council-manager government (pp. 257-271). Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
25.
Rutter, L.
(1980). The essential community. Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
26.
Schilling, E. G.
(1989). The values of city management. In G. H. Frederickson (Ed.), Ideal and practice in council-manager government (pp. 141-152). Washington, DC: International City management Association.
27.
Schmidt, W. H.
, & Posner, B. Z. (1987). Values and expectations of city managers in California. Public Administration Review, 47, 404-409.
28.
Sharp, E. B.
(1986). Citizen demand-making in the urban context. University, AL: University of Alabama Press.
29.
Sharpe, C. F.
(1969). Reflections on leaving the public service. Public Administration Review, 29, 403-409.
30.
Stillman, R. J., II
. (1982). Local public management in transition: A report on the current state of the profession. In Municipal yearbook (pp. 161-173). Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
31.
Svara, J. H.
(1985). Dichotomy and duality: Reconceptualizing the relationship between policy and administration in council-manager cities. Public Administration Review, 45, 221-232.
32.
Svara, J. H.
(1988). The complementary roles of officials in council-manager government. In Municipal yearbook (pp. 23-33). Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
33.
Svara, J. H.
(1989a). Is there a future for city managers? The evolving roles of officials in council-manager government. International Journal of Public Administration, 47, 404-409.
34.
Svara, J. H.
(1989b). Policy and administration: city managers as comprehensive professional leaders. In G. H. Frederickson (Ed.), Ideal and practice in council-manager government (pp. 70-93). Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
35.
Thomas, J. C.
(1986). Between citizen and city. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
36.
Tipton, H. D.
(1989). Response to "The nature of city managers' work." In G. H. Frederickson (Ed.), Ideal and practice in council-manager government (pp. 177-178). Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
