Governing the Metropolitan Region: America's New Frontier: 2014 America's New Frontier

This text is aimed at the basic local government management course (upper division or graduate) that addresses the structural, political and management issues associated with regional and metropolitan government. It also can complement more specialized courses such as urban planning, urban government, state and local politics, and intergovernmental relations.

Preface 1. Governing America’s New Frontier: The Metropolitan Region 2. Creatures of Whom? The Intentionally Conflicted Nature of Local Government in America 3. The Evolution of the Financial Relationship Among State and Local Governments 4. The Primary Types and Roles of Local Governments 5. Fifty States, Fifty Different Systems 6. The New Kid on the Block: The Metropolitan Region 7. The Urban Core as Outward Region Building: A City and Its Contiguous Municipalities 8. Sharing Wealth and Responsibility: Fiscal Regionalism 9. Reshaping Counties and Integrating Regional Special Districts: High Risk but Great Potential 10. Representing the New Kid on the Block: Regional Governing Organizations 11. State Government Versus Local Governments: Creative Tension or Inherent Conflict? 12. The Conflicted Role of Professional Municipal Managers: Help Build or Insulate from the Metropolitan Region? 13. Speculation on the Future