International Journal of Public Leadership, 12(4), 2016, pp.289-300.
Publisher:
Emerald
Purpose: Philosophers and political scientists have a long history of dealing with the difficult puzzle of leadership, and how it is to be distinguished from management and administration. The purpose of this paper is to explore the question of whether the innovative role of elected executive mayor in England can be considered as leader or manager. The paper critically assesses the concept...
(Edited publisher abstract)
Purpose: Philosophers and political scientists have a long history of dealing with the difficult puzzle of leadership, and how it is to be distinguished from management and administration. The purpose of this paper is to explore the question of whether the innovative role of elected executive mayor in England can be considered as leader or manager. The paper critically assesses the concept of leadership before using empirical evidence to come to conclusions about the current role of elected mayor, an office with an uncertain history and unclear future in English public sector leadership.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws from the authors’ qualitative interviews with mayors from the inception of the office to the recent past.
Findings: The study finds that elected executive mayors are both leaders and managers, but that the notion of leadership in the local public sector remains contested as the mayor is a part of a bureaucratic structure of administration which limits the exercise of leadership as outlined in the existing literature.
Research limitations/implications: As central government continues to advocate the expansion of the office of mayor, not least as part of English regional devolution, the study relates to future practice and to overall understanding of just what elected mayors do.
Practical implications: The paper provides useful insight into the forthcoming expansion of the mayoral system into the new Combined Authorities.
Originality/value: The paper provides original evidence about the faltering progress of the mayoral system in the English public sector.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
leadership, management, local government, public sector;
Local Government Studies, 21(4), Winter 1996, pp.546-567.
Publisher:
Routledge
Local government offers extensive and under-utilised opportunities for the study of comparative government. This article suggests that the exploration of how local authorities determine their policies, as well as managing their resources and responsibilities, can and should be pursued on a cross-national basis, because local authorities have similar problems and develop comparable methods of dealing with them. It draws on work carried out in north-eastern England, including a survey of local authority leaders and chief executive officers there and a series of interviews of mayors and senior local government officials in western New York State in the USA.
Local government offers extensive and under-utilised opportunities for the study of comparative government. This article suggests that the exploration of how local authorities determine their policies, as well as managing their resources and responsibilities, can and should be pursued on a cross-national basis, because local authorities have similar problems and develop comparable methods of dealing with them. It draws on work carried out in north-eastern England, including a survey of local authority leaders and chief executive officers there and a series of interviews of mayors and senior local government officials in western New York State in the USA.
Subject terms:
leadership, local authorities, local government, local government policy, policy, politics, surveys, comparative studies;