of the Commission and City-Manager Plans of Municipal Government in the United States by TSO-SHUEN CHANG SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE COLLEGE OF THE STATE PUBLISHED AT IOWA CITY IOWA AUTHOR'S PREFACE The purpose of this monograph is three-fold. In the first place, the writer aims to trace the origin and development of the commission plan and the city manager plan the two latest forms of municipal government in America with a view to ascertaining the defects of the older forms of city government and the conditions which have led to a nation-wide movement for the re-organization of eity government. In the second place, the writer attempts to explain, through a detailed analysis of statutes and charters, the structure of municipal government under the new régime, and to show wherein the new plans have departed from the older forms of city government in the United States. Finally, the writer endeavors to discover the extent to which the alleged advantages of the new plans have been sustained in actual experience. His studies reveal the fact that the published claims of achievement under the new plans have almost without exception emanated from officials in charge of the government. An accurate estimate of the actual success of the commission plan and the city manager plan is rendered difficult by the fact that it is well-nigh impossible to disentangle the improvements which are due to the organization and administration of the new forms from those which are due to that awakening of civic consciousness which inevitably accompanies changes in government. |