Explaining the Tenure of Local Government Managers

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1998

Publication Title

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory

Publisher

Oxford Journals

Volume

8

Issue

1

Abstract

Attempts to explain manager tenure based on conflict or ambition have systematically examined neither local government institutions that define the powers and contractual obligations of managers nor more macro political system structures. Analysis of tenure patterns for eighty-one local government managers confirms both the conflictual environment in which managers work and career characteristics influencing patterns of tenure. We add to this by demonstrating the importance of employment institutions in shaping a manager's choices and tenure. We find that the influence of push and pull factors is contingent upon the context of the employment relationship. The use of employment agreements influences tenure but in an intervening, rather than additive, manner. We conclude that the structure of employment institutions is important not only because it may structure personal incentives, but because it may also either insulate the manager from conflict in the community or propel him or her to the center of such conflict.

Keywords

City managers; County government; County officials and employees; County services; Executives; Labor turnover; Leadership; Local government; United States

Disciplines

Public Administration | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited

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