COUNCIL-MANAGER
PLAN: NATIONWIDE DEVELOPMENTS
Chapter IV
This document is reprinted with permission from "The Manager Plan in Maine" published by the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy. Copies of the complete book may be obtained by calling the Center at (207) 581-1646.
As the twentieth century enters its final decade, it is time to reflect on what have been the most significant developments in the profession during the past twenty years and what are likely to be some of the future directions. This chapter will highlight some of the more significant trends of the council-manager plan from a nationwide perspective. In doing so, the written works of scholars and practitioners will be drawn upon in discussion of council-manager relations, roles, attitudes, and behavior patterns.
A major effort has been made to include attitude data from city and town managers drawn from much of the literature on the council-manager plan that has been reported in the past twenty years. While the scope of this chapter ventures well beyond the State of Maine, it does show how the Maine Manager's Plan, even with its differences (noted in other sections of this 50th anniversary issue) is a part of a national reform movement that has enjoyed a rich evolutionary process.