The Untapped Strength of the Council‐Manager Mayor

• Published date: 01 January 2011
• Author: Jeremy D. Walling
• Date: 01 January 2011
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02320.x

136 Public Administration Review • January | February 2011

legislative unit and a mayor who acts sometimes as an

independent executive and at other times as a council

member with enhanced executive prerogatives. In

contrast, the council-manager structure is a unitary

system in which power f‌l ows from the council to the

appointed administrative executive. It is tempting to

assume the existence of a sort of politics–administra-

tion dichotomy woven into the development of the

James H. Svara, ed.,  e Facilitative Leader in City

Hall (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2009). 416 pp.

$89.95 (cloth), ISBN: 9781420068313.

In def‌i ning the common forms of municipal gov-

ernment, James H. Svara notes that the separation

of powers concept is inherent in the mayor- council

structure, with power divided between a council as

 e Untapped Strength of the Council-Manager Mayor

Jeremy D. Walling

Southeast Missouri State University

Jeremy D. Walling is an associate

professor of political science at Southeast

Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau,

Missouri. His teaching and research

interests include state and local politics,

federalism and intergovernmental relations,

organization theory and behavior, and

American political institutions.

E-mail: jwalling@semo.edu