The Manager Plan and the Metropolitan Community

In: American political science review, Band 33, Heft 1, S. 69-80

Abstract

The labels that happen to become attached to things are of little consequence; the substance is what counts. Good government does not consist in getting any certain caption placed upon a municipal organization; it consists in the introduction into its daily functioning of practices and processes that guarantee responsiveness to public needs. Four main types of governmental structure have figured in the history of American cities: strong council, strong mayor, commission, and council-manager. Each of these has several features peculiar to itself, yet there are a number of principles and provisions, which, if not common to all four types, are at least not incompatible with any of them and are capable, as experience has shown, of being adopted or employed in connection with all.