Textbook Municipal Reform

Abstract

Most political scientists and historians find the home of reform government in the suburbs. The author shows that there was another style of reform government, big-city reform, in the big cities of the Southwest. The political system of big-city reform was distinguished by nonpartisan, city-manager government with citywide elections to the city council, low turnout and participation, and an electorate more Anglo and middle class than the metropolitan area as a whole. Big-city reform governments joined developer-dominated governing coalitions with Anglo middle—and upper-class communities in a growth community benefiting from good government.

What Have We Learned about the Performance of Council‐Manager Government? A Review and Synthesis of the Research

“…A strong consensus has emerged around the conclusion that voter turnout is lower in cities with council‐manager governments. This finding goes back to Lineberry and Fowler's () study and has been consistently supported by subsequent research (Alford and Lee ; Bridges ; Hajnal and Lewis ; Karnig and Walter ; Oliver ; Wood ) . This literature often shows that other local institutions also affect voter turnout even more than form of government (e.g., council districts, partisan ballots, local initiatives, electing timing, etc.…”

“…Karnig and Walter () attributed their findings to several factors they saw as depressing incentives for turnout in council‐manager cities: fewer council members, no party cue because of nonpartisan elections, and professional management in these cities made it possible to avoid major conflict and policy debates. In her study, Bridges () found that the council‐manager cities, without exception, had lower voter turnout than the mayor‐council cities, despite the fact that a lower proportion of the population in the council‐manager cities was foreign born, minority, and less educated. Like Karnig and Walter, she also concluded that the use of nonpartisan ballots and at large elections of council members reduce public participation in elections and thus insulate government officials from the demands of lower‐income and ethnic groups.…”

City Politics and Black Protest: The Economic Transformation of Harlem and Bronzeville

“…For instance, district elections, compared to citywide council elections, lead to larger overall voter turnout (Bridges, 1997). Additionally, more centralized city political systems facilitate less public dissent throughout the city and smaller budget deficits (Fuchs, 1992).…”

Public Accountability and Political Participation: Effects of a Face-to-Face Feedback Intervention on Voter Turnout of Public Housing Residents

“…Two well established tenets of political behavior scholarship include the observations that rates of political participation among the urban poor are relatively low (Soss and Jacobs 2009;Lawless and Fox 2001;Verba et al 1995), and rates of voter turnout among the entire electorate in municipal elections are often abysmal (Caren 2007;Hajnal and Lewis 2003;Bridges 1997;Karnig and Walter 1983;Morlan 1984;Alford and Lee 1968). Both issues raise concerns about the extent to which elected officials represent the interests of citizens most in need of assistance, particularly at the local level which is often the first point of contact between citizens and government services.…”