The Adapted American City
A Study of Institutional Dynamics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6403768 |
|---|---|
| Authors | H George Frederickson (University of Kansas), Gary Alan Johnson (University of North Carolina at Charlotte) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 872-884 |
| Publication date | 2001-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Urban Affairs Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1078-0874 • E-ISSN: 1552-8332 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/10780870122185127 |
| OpenAlex | W1982500570 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 40 |
| References cited | 3 |
Almost all U.S. cities are established by state charter as either mayor-council or council-manager cities. For decades, these two legal-statutory categories have been used by researchers as dichotomous variables in descriptions of city government form and in statistical equations. This study indicates that the mayor-council and council-manager categories, although legally based, mask several important empirical characteristics of U.S. city government. Using a large data set, the authors indicate that the structures of U.S. cities are surprisingly dynamic. Cities tend to change their structures incrementally. Over time, cities with mayor-council statutory platforms will incrementally adapt many of the characteristics of council-manager form cities to improve their management and productivity capabilities. Over time, cities with council-manager statutory platforms will adopt features of mayor-council form cities to increase their political responsiveness, leadership, and accounting capabilities. Because each of the two legal forms of cities adopts primary features of the other, these cities now constitute a third form of the U.S. city—the adapted city
Business · Charter · Economic growth · Economics · Government (linguistics · Local government · Municipal council · Political science · Politics · Productivity · State (computer science · Statutory law · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis
Using the adapted cities framework to evaluate per capita expenditures in small U.S. municipalities
Localizing the energy transition
Patterns of change in government form
Mayor‐Council Form of Government and Policy Responses in Times of Economic Travail
Planning for Sustainability in Small Municipalities
Urban Interests and Campaign Contributions
Sex and the City
Beyond Ideal Types of Municipal Structure
The Structure of City Action
The Determinants of Municipal Structures on a Political-Administrative Dimension
State-Level Autonomy and Municipal Government Structure
Structural Conflict in Contemporary Cities
Reassessing the Link Between City Structure and Fiscal Policy
The Roles of Regional Organizations for Interlocal Resource Exchange
A Century of Municipal Reform in the United States
The Costs and Benefits of Volunteering Programs in the Public Sector
Local government structure
The Professional Mind-Set of City Managers
Local government structure and the quality of minority neighborhoods
Fiscal Effects of Reforming Local Constitutions
Forms of Government and Climate Change Policies in US Cities
Local Government and the Politics of Decency
Hot town, corruption in the city
The Changing Structure of American Cities
Credible Commitment and Council‐Manager Government
The Adoption and Abandonment of Council‐Manager Government
The Politics of Land Use for Distributed Renewable Energy Generation
Capturing Structural and Functional Diversity Through Institutional Analysis
Urban Managers and Public Policy
Towards a Measure of Local Legislative Professionalism
Voter Turnout in City Elections
Impact Fees, Growth Management, and Development
Examining Implementation of the National Voter Registration Act by Nonprofit Organizations
Why Public Financial Management Matters
The Impact of Local Politics on the Principal-Agent Relationship Between Council and Manager in Municipal Government
Influences on the Number and Gender of Candidates in Canadian Local Elections
Turnout in Local Elections
Local Institutions and the Politics of Urban Growth
Keeping policy commitments
Vote Choice in Suburban Elections
| Unique citing works | 40 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,67 |
| Citation span | 2002 - 2025 (24) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 40 |