"Council-manager Government in Transition PDF Download

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Book Description
The evolutionary nature of municipal government is often projected through the changing of its structural elements. The conflict that arises between defenders of the current system and those who wish to modify it to meet perceived deficiencies is part of the on-going American political struggle between efficiency and equity. For the researcher, one question of interest is whether or not significant change has resulted in the adoption of a new, modified, governmental form and, if so, what specific types of changes have and have not occurred. This is a study of the Cincinnati, Ohio, council-manager government in transition. Voters in Cincinnati, Ohio, adopted a "stronger mayor" governmental form in May,1999, which took effect in December of 2001. Empirically analyzing the motivations and expectations of elites - those actively involved both for and against the change - enables a determination to be made as to whether the change to "stronger mayor" significantly altered the way municipal government is perceived to now operate. A series of quantitative and qualitative questions were asked of 'elites, ' both before the change to "stronger mayor" and after the change. This enabled an empirical comparison to be made between the way mayoral, council, and city manager roles and relationships have and have not been perceived to have changed as a result of the adoption of the new governmental form. Elites interviewed included leaders of the city's three political parties, current and former public officials, legislative aides, and political activists all of whom were engaged in either supporting or opposing the "stronger mayor" ballot initiative. Findings indicated that significant perceptual change did occur, particularly in regard to the mayor's power and roles at city hall, council's relationship with the mayor and city manager, the city manager's policy role, and a change from a generally negative to a cautiously positive perception of relationships between council members themselves. Despite arguments by supporters that "stronger mayor" would enhance efficiency and equity, that has not happened. This study also found that a major impact upon the perceptions of elites was the result of the impact of term limits which, although adopted several years prior, only recently began to have a major impact on the political process. This study contributes principally to the literature of municipal government in two ways. It is empirical, and more works based upon qualitative examinations are needed in the literature to provide measures and to permit comparisons to be made. Further, this research provides support for the argument of those who believe that a "convergence" is taking place between the strong mayor and council-manager forms of municipal government.