C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, pp. 578-602; Ibid., Readings in American Government and Politics, pp. 509-534;
H. G. James, Local Government in the United States, pp. 300-357;
T. S. Chang, History and Analysis of the Commission and City Manager Plans of Municipal Government, pp. 75-96;
Henry Bruère, The New City Government, pp. 171-204;
American Academy of Political and Social Science, Commission Government and the City-Manager Plans, revised edition, pp. 49-77;
Everett Kimball, State and Municipal Government, pp. 345-453.
Group Problems
1. The charter of your own city (or some nearby city). Study the main types of city charter. Examine the procedure by which your city charter was adopted; make a summary of its chief provisions; compare these with the main provisions in the charter of some other comparable city; point out what seem to be the chief merits and defects; state your conclusions as to desirable changes, and explain how these may be secured. References: Nathan Matthews, Municipal Charters, pp. 97-163; H. G. James, Applied City Government, pp. 39-53; H. A. Toulmin, The City Manager, pp. 170-193; National Municipal League, Municipal Program (ed. C. R. Woodruff), passim. (Copies of the city charter can always be found in the public library and in all but the larger cities may usually be had from the office of the city clerk.)
2. The city-manager plan: what are its merits and its limitations? References: H. A. Toulmin, The City Manager, pp. 73-97; C. E. Rightor, The City Manager in Dayton, pp. 31-56; E. C. Mabie, Selected Articles on the City Manager Plan of Municipal Government, passim (Debaters’ Handbook series); T. S. Chang, History and Analysis of the Commission and City Manager Plans of Municipal Government, pp. 158-220; National Municipal League, The Story of the City Manager Plan (pamphlet); The Year Book of the City Managers’ Association and the National Municipal Review also contain recent material.
Short Studies