Edward P. French - Böcker

Managing America's Small Communities charts several key aspects of the largely unexamined world of small city management. This book describes the democraphic trends, structural features, executive behavior and service quality among small communities. Are small cities growing, declining or have they remained untouched by the force of change? To what extent have the structural changes and reforms that have swept through larger cities touched small communities? What are the characteristics and behaviors of small city chief executives and how involved are different executives in the dimensions of the governmental process? How do chief executives in small cities make decisions about local services and programs? Are there differences in the extent to which appointed managers and elected mayors are responsive to community interests? The book also examines the frequency with which small communities provide various services, the quality of services provided and how small city officials can diagnose problems with service quality and performance.The book's theme is the value added to small communities that evidence professionalism in city administration. The benefits that accrue to having a professional city manager are most apparent in the extent to which city managers are engaged in decisions related to each of the dimensions of the governmental process, the level of service quality provided, and the prospects for measuring service performance.

The Honorable John S. Wilder has served the constituents of Tennessee for over forty-years, and this historical accomplishment serves as the foundation of this work. In his political life, Lieutenant Governor Wilder has directly or indirectly impacted some of the most important administrative and public policy decisions over this period of time. Through archival document analysis and personal interviews with the Lieutenant Governor and many of his closest aids, political colleagues, and staunch opponents, the authors of this text have traced the history of John S. Wilder's accomplishments and defeats from the late 1950s to the present. This triangulation of data collection and analysis helped the authors uncover forgotten political stories, and assisted in substantiating facts about many of the Lieutenant Governor's major political decisions. Highlighted in the text are Wilder's political triumphs over two coup attempts within the Democratic Party to oust him as Speaker of the Senate in the late 1980s. These efforts failed when the longest serving State Legislator in American history reached across party lines to maintain control of the second most powerful position in Tennessee state government. Now in his late 80's, Wilder is still determined as ever to continue leading the Tennessee Senate well into the twenty-first century. This book chronicles the political career of the man from Somerville.