The authors place reinventing government (REGO) efforts in the context of mayor-council municipalities. After briefly reviewing the emerging body of local government research on reinventing government, they address two principal research questions: First, what are the correlates and extent of REGO actions by managers, mayors, and city councils? Second, what is the nature of REGO interactions among managers, mayors, and councils? Employing two International City Management Association data sets, the authors conclude that although managers may be the prime movers of REGO in U.S. municipalities, they can only accomplish what their community, governmental, and political environments permit.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ammons, D. N. , and C. Newell. 1989. City executives: Leadership roles, work characteristics, and time management. Albany: SUNY Press.
2.
Barzelay, M.1992. Breaking through bureaucracy: A new vision for managing government. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
3.
Berman, E.1994. Implementing TQM in state governments: A survey of recent progress. State and Local Government Review26 (1): 46-53.
4.
Boynton, R. , and D. Wright. 1971. Mayor-manager relationships in large council-manager cities: A reinterpretation. Public Administration Review31 (January/February): 28-36.
5.
Bridges, A.1992. Winning the West to municipal reform. Urban Affairs Quarterly27 (June): 494-518.
6.
Bridges, A.1997. Morning glories: Municipal reform in the Southwest. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
7.
Brudney, J. , F. Hebert, and D. Wright. 1999. Reinventing government in the American states: Measuring and explaining administrative reform. Public Administration Review59 (January/February): 19-30.
8.
Caiden, G.1991. Administrative reform comes of age. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
9.
Caiden, N. , and A. Wildavsky. 1974. Planning and budgeting in poor countries. New York: John Wiley.
10.
Chandler, T. , and P. Feuille. 1991. Municipal unions and privatization. Public Administration Review51 (January/February): 15-22.
11.
Christoph, J.1992. The remaking of British administrative culture. Administration & Society24 (August): 163-181.
12.
deLeon, L. , and R. Denhardt. 2000. The political theory of reinvention. Public Administration Review60 (March/April): 89-97.
13.
Feldman, B.1999. Reinventing local government: Beyond rhetoric to action. In The municipal year book 1999, edited by the International City Management Association. Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
14.
Frederickson, H.1996. Comparing the reinventing government movement with the new public administration. Public Administration Review56 (May/June): 263-270.
15.
Freeman, R. , and J. Medoff. 1984. What do unions do?New York: Basic Books.
16.
Kammerer, G.1964. Role diversity of city managers, Administrative Science Quarterly8 (March): 421-442.
17.
Kearney, R. , B. Feldman, and C. Scavo. 2000. Reinventing government: City manager attitudes and actions. Public Administration Review60 (November/December): 535-548.
18.
Kearney, R. , and S. Hays. 1998. Reinventing government, the new public management, and civil service systems in comparative perspective. Review of Public Personnel Administration18 (fall): 38-54.
19.
Kravchuk, R. , and R. Leighton. 1993. Implementing total quality management in the United States. Public Productivity and Management Review17 (1): 71-82.
20.
Montjoy, R. , and D. Watson. 1995. A case for reinterpreted dichotomy of politics and administration as a professional standard in council-manager government?Public Administration Review55 (May/June): 231-239.
21.
Morgan, D. , and J. Pelissero. 1980. Urban policy: Does political structure matter?American Political Science Review74 (December): 999-1006.
22.
Morgan, D. , and S. Watson. 1992. Policy leadership in council-manager cities: Comparing mayor and manager. Public Administration Review52 (September/October): 438-446.
23.
Morgan, D. , and S. Watson. 1995. The effects of mayoral power on urban fiscal policy. Policy Studies Journal23 (summer): 231-239.
24.
Nalbandian, J.1989. The contemporary role of city managers. American Review of Public Administration19 (December): 261-279.
25.
Newland, C.1989. The future of council-manager government. In Ideal and practice in council manager government, edited by H. Frederickson, 257-271. Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
26.
Osborne, D. , and T. Gaebler. 1992. Reinventing government: How the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
27.
Overman, S. , and K. Boyd. 1992. Best practices research and postbureaucratic reform. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory4 (1): 67-83.
28.
Peterson, P.1981. City limits. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
29.
Pollitt, C.1990. Managerialism and the public service: The Anglo-American experience. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
30.
Protasel, G.1989. Leadership in council-manager cities: The institutional implications. In Ideal and practice in council-manager government, edited by H. Frederickson, 22-32. Washington, DC: International City Management Association.
31.
Ruhil, A. , M. Schneider, P. Teske, and B. Ji. 1999. Institutions and reform: Reinventing local government. Urban Affairs Review34 (January): 433-455.
32.
Schneider, M. , and P. Teske. 1992. Toward a theory of the political entrepreneur: Evidence from local government. American Political Science Review86 (September): 737-747.
33.
Selden, S. , G. Brewer, and J. Brudney. 1999. The role of city managers: Are they principals, agents, or both?American Review of Public Administration29 (June): 124-148.
34.
Sparrow, G.1984. The emerging chief executive: The San Diego experience. Urban Resources2: 3-8.
35.
Stillman, R.1974. The rise of the city manager. Albuquerque: Univ. of New Mexico Press.
36.
Svara, J.1987. Mayoral leadership in council-manager cities: Preconditions versus preconceptions. Journal of Politics9 (February): 207-227.
37.
Svara, J.1990. Official leadership in the city. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
38.
Svara, J.1998. The politics-administration dichotomy model as aberration. Public Administration Review58 (January/February): 51-58.
39.
Svara, J.1999a. Conflict and cooperation in elected-administrative relations in large council-manager cities. State and Local Government Review31 (fall): 173-189.
40.
Svara, J.1999b. The shifting boundary between elected officials and city managers in large council-manager cities. Public Administration Review59 (January/February): 44-53.
41.
Teske, P. , and M. Schneider. 1994. The bureaucratic entrepreneur: The case of city managers. Public Administration Review54 (July/August): 331-340.
42.
Wallin, B.1997. The need for a privatization process: Lessons from development and implementation. Public Administration Review57 (January/February): 11-20.
43.
Wallin, B.1998. From revenue sharing to deficit sharing: General revenue sharing and cities. Washington, DC: Georgetown Univ. Press.
44.
Welch, S. , and T. Bledsoe. 1988. Urban reform and its consequences. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
45.
Wikstrom, N.1979. The mayor as a policy leader in the council-manager form of government: A view from the field. Public Administration Review39 (May/June): 270-276.
