Urban Managers and Public Policy

Abstract

Here the authors examine the policy behavior of urban administrators in the area of reinventing government. They argue that managers in places with institutions that tend to produce conflict will be less active in policy making than their counterparts in less conflict-prone environments. They test their model with data from a survey of urban administrators in cities with populations greater than 10,000. The findings indicate that managers are significantly less likely to propose policies where mayors are strong and in places that use partisan ballots in the selection of local elected officials, holding constant other factors likely to affect policy initiation.