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Managing Urban America
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Managing Urban America

Eighth Edition


July 2016 | 392 pages | CQ Press

In Managing Urban America, Eighth Edition, the authors guide students through the politics of urban management—doing less with more while managing conflict, delivering goods and services, responding to federal and state mandates, adapting to changing demographics, and coping with economic and budgetary challenges. This revision:

  • highlights the difficulties cities confront as they deal with the lingering economic challenges of the 2008 Recession
  • evaluates the concept of e-government, and offers numerous examples in both theory and practice
  • considers environmental issues and the implications for urban government management
  • includes new case studies, including some with a global perspective as the authors examine the management of international cities
  • thoroughly updates all data and scholarship.
 
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

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
University of South Florida

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
California State University, Fullerton

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
Northumbria University

“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
Roger Williams University

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 3

Chapter 4


For instructors

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