Exam 11: Local Leadership and Governance

Council members elected by districts report more factionalism and less unanimity than do their counterparts elected at large.

City Council members in Chicago are now called councilpersons, having dropped the name 'aldermen' several years ago.

By 2009, African Americans were mayors

The text has a feature, "The Mayor, the City Council, and Walmart...and the Community," about the development of a Walmart store near St. Louis. Describe the basic points of conflict in the story and explain how elite theory, pluralist theory, and regime theory might explain the outcome.

The reputational approach is a method for studying community power in which researchers ask informants to name and rank influential individuals.

Which of the following became more important as a result of the Progressive era, during which reformers sought to avoid the corrupt and inefficient partisan political machines that controlled many American cities?

The theory that a small group of leaders possesses great power and rules society is called

Minority representation in local government has risen to near equality with that of whites.

The terms that project images of leadership in local government circles today include initiative , inventiveness , risk taking , high energy level , persistence , entrepreneurship , innovation , and  vision .

Local governments are becoming more entrepreneurial.

Which of the following features is not found in a strong-mayor city government?

The diversity of American society is increasingly reflected in local communities and their political structures. How are various minority communities gaining political power and, once they do, how are their decisions different than those made by previous councils?

In cities with a weak-mayor structure,

Given the finite number of council seats in any community and the fact  that more groups are now clamoring for representation, two outcomes are  possible: minority groups may try to build coalitions, or they may opt for a  more independent, competitive approach.

The increased success of blacks in mayoral elections has led some observers to talk of deracialization , or the de-emphasis of race as a campaign issue to attract white voters.

Female mayoral candidates experience more difficulties raising money and gaining newspaper endorsements than male candidates.

Leadership is a central, critical concern in local government.

Mayors today tend to eschew balanced budgets, choosing to deliver public goods and the votes that follow.

Pluralist theory suggests that a small number of people hold a disproportionate amount of political power and therefore rule society.

The number of local elected officials who are gay or lesbian has