1st Edition

Handbook of Local Government Administration

By Gargan Copyright 1996

    This theoretically and experientially grounded reference provides a complete overview of the principles and applications of government administration and management practices in the local public sector. Written by over 25 distinguished academics and professionals with substantial experience as practitioners and consultants of administrative operations to local governments, the book covers the effects of environmental conditions on local administrators and management techniques to administration in different types of local government. It helps readers reduce research time by presenting advanced materials on local government administration and management in a single source.

    Introduction, John J. Gargan

    FACTORS AFFECTING THE CONTEXT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
    Reinventing What?: The Uncertain Context of Local Government Administration, J.A. Garber
    Federalism and State Law: Legal Factors Constraining and Facilitating Local Initiatives, T.D. Mead
    Managing Alternative Approaches to the Provision and Production of Public Goods: Public, Private, and Nonprofit, P.J. Castellani
    The Practical Application of Organization Development to Local Governments, Gerald T. Gabris and R.T. Golembiewski

    LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES: THE IMPORTANCE OF DOING THE BASICS WELL
    Strategic Management: A Core Responsibility of Local Government Administrators, T.H. Poister and G Streib
    Structural Arrangements in Local Government: Organizing for Effective Management, D.R. Morgan
    Financial Management: The Centrality of the Fiscal in Local Government and Politics, W.B. Hildreth
    Managing Human Resources: Personnel Administration in Local Government, R.D. Sylvia
    Total Quality Management in Local Government, E.M. Berman and J. P. West
    Local Government Capacity Building Through Performance Measurement, G.A. Gianakis and C.P. McCue
    Local Court Administration: Making the Judicial Trains Run on Time, J.A. Gazell

    ADMINISTERING GENERIC TYPES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
    Town and Township Government: Serving Rural and Suburban Communities, A.D. Sokolow
    Small Community Governance: Some Impediments to Policy Making, G. Mattson
    Professional Administration (and Representative Governance) in the Council-Manager City, J.H. Svara
    The Changing Landscape of Big City Management, H.V. Savitch and W.A. Tharp
    County Government as the "Administrative Arm'' of State Government, W.L. Waugh, Jr.
    Coping with Externalities: Regional Councils and Challenges of Management and Governance, P.S. Atkins
    Managing Single Function Governments: The Promise and Challenge of Special Districts, P.J. Haas
    Political and Administrative Complexity in Governing Central City Schools, M. Tallerico
    Management and Governance in Midsized Urban and Suburban School Districts, N.M. Snyder

    CONCLUDING ASSESSMENT
    Local Government Governing Capacity: Challenges for the New Century, J.J. Gargan

    Biography

    John J. Gargan Kent State University, Ohio.

    "…A total of 22 separately authored chapters cover such subjects as federalism and state law, strategic management, structural arrangements in local government, small community governance, and big city management…As a handbook to contemporary US local government, the book is excellent. It has been well edited, the coverage is wide, the prose readable, the authors experts, and the chapter bibliographies relevant and up-to-date."
    -Reference Reviews


    Provides a complete overview of the principles and applications of government administration and management practices in the local public sector. The text covers the effects of environmental conditions on local administrators and management techniques to administration in different types of local government.


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