Managing Urban America / Edition 8

by Robert E. England, John P. Pelissero, David R. Morgan

Overview

Managing Urban America guides students through the challenges, politics, and practice of urban management—including managing conflict through politics, adapting to demographic and social changes, balancing budgets, and delivering a myriad of goods and services to citizens in an efficient, equitable, and responsive manner. The Eighth Edition has been thoroughly updated to include a discussion of the difficulties cities confront as they deal with the lingering economic challenges of the 2008 recession, the concept of e-government and how it affects the theory and practice of management, and the implications of environmental issues for urban government management.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506310497
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	06/14/2016
Edition description:	Eighth Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Robert E. England is founding editor of the International Fire Service Journal of Leadership and Management, published by Fire Protection Publications, Oklahoma State University. He spent the Fall 2015 semester as a visiting professor at Loyola University Chicago.

John P. Pelissero is professor of political science and Interim President at Loyola University Chicago. He is the editor of Cities, Politics, and Policy: A Comparative Analysis (CQ Press, 2003). His most recent research on cities has appeared in Public Administration Review and Urban Affairs Review.

David R. Morgan is professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma, where he was the Henry Bellmon Chair of Public Service and professor of political science. He spent five years in local government, including service as the first city manager of Yukon, Oklahoma.

Table of Contents

Tables, Figures, and Boxes
Preface
About the Authors
Part One: The Environment of Urban Management
Chapter 1: Managing American Cities in the Twenty-first Century
Introduction: American Cities Continue to Change and Evolve
How and Why American Cities Have Changed
How Cities Have Improved Their Management Capacity
The New Public Management Model: An Academic Response to REGO
Systems Analysis and Local Policymaking
Better Management Is Not Enough
The Plan of the Book
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Chapter 2: Cities and the System of Intergovernmental Relations
Federalism
Intergovernmental Relations
Summary
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Chapter 3: Urban Political Structure
The Reform Movement
Forms of City Government
Ballot Type
Electoral Systems
Home Rule and the Legal Status of the City
Summary
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Part Two: Managing Conflict and Delivering Goods and Services in the Modern City
Chapter 4: Urban Policymaking
The Nature of Urban Policy
Chief Executives
The City Council
Bureaucrats and Policy
Citizens' Influences on City Government
Summary
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Chapter 5: Urban Planning and Development
The Nature of City Planning
Planning in a Political Environment
Planning Activities
Urban Economic Development
Organizing for and Managing Economic Development
The Politics of Urban Development
Summary
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Chapter 6: Decision Making and Analysis
Approaches to Decision Making
Decision-Making Tooks
Program Analysis and Other Systematic Approaches to Decision Making
Summary
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Chapter 7: Urban Service Delivery
Goals for Service Delivery
Measuring Efficiency and Effectiveness of Urban Services
Equity of Services: A Political Goal?
Responsiveness in Service Delivery
Alternative Service Delivery
Implementing and Evaluating Urban Programs
Citizen Surveys
Summary
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Part Three: Internal Management Processes
Chapter 8: The Management Process: Theory and Practice
Organizations as Open Systems
Leadership
Managing for Results (MFR): Managing by Objectives (MBO) and Lean Six Sigma (LSS)
Potential Problems with Management Techniques New to a City
Summary
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Chapter 9: Managing Human Resources
Organizing the Personnel Function
Human Resource Management Functions
Issues in Human Resource Management
Labor-Management Relations
Summary
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Chapter 10: Finance and Budget
Revenue Raising
Expenditures
Budgeting
Summary
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Part Four: The Urban Future
Chapter 11: Managing the Urban Future
Management and Leadership in an Age of Fiscal Crisis
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Part Four: The Urban Future
Chapter 11: Managing the Urban Future
Management and Leadership in an Age of Fiscal Crisis
Suggested for Further Reading
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

Managing Urban America is straightforward and an excellent text for an undergraduate course in local government management. The book uses a familiar public administration framework to cover the most essential topics in local government. The writing is straightforward and easy to follow, but doesn’t shy away from presenting the intergovernmental context in which American cities operate.

Samuel B. Stone

Managing Urban America charts and explores change over time across a number of key dimensions. It is a clear and analytical examination of fiscal, social, and geographical factors with an emphasis on ‘The Citizen’, their views, and agency.

Richard Kotter

The clear writing and focus on management makes Managing Urban America lively and interesting. The inclusion of a chapter on planning and economic development is great, unusual, and essential.

June Speakman

Managing Urban America provides a solid foundation to begin ‘the conversation.’ It has an easy-to-read format and touches on numerous aspects of government on the local, state, and federal levels. The chapters help lead into discussions that focus on real-world examples.

Stephen Spina