Book Review:

TECHNIQUE OF MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION

The 1958 edition of the Technique of Municipal Administration was published in April by the International City Managers' Association. It is one of the Association's series of 10 volumes on municipal administration. The aim of this book is to define the job of management in municipal administration and to suggest techniques and practices which will help municipal officials in management positions to carry out their duties effectively.

This is a book for the chief administrator, but the principles and practices set forth are also relevant to the task of managing a single department. In addition, students of public administration will find here a local-level reflection of current theory and practice in the broader field of public administration. Previous editions have been widely used by colleges and universities as well as in city halls.

The first edition published in 1940 pioneered in defining the management job in municipal administration. In later editions published in 1945 and 1947, the suggested role and techniques of the chief administrative officer were modified to incorporate lessons learned from the use of the text in training municipal administrators. In the present edition there is a new chapter on administrative planning and research, the function of city planning has been set out in a chapter of its own, discussion of the theory of organization has been revised toward a more flexible approach to "principles" of organization, several chapters have been consolidated or expanded, and the entire volume revised to incorporate new developments since 1947 when the third edition was issued.

Like the other nine volumes in the Municipal Management Series published by the Association, the distinguishing features of Technique of Municipal Administration are traceable directly to the origin of the series. First, it approaches municipal problems from the point of view of top level administrators. Second, because it was prepared as the basis for a training course, the emphasis in the volume is on the "how" rather than the "what" of municipal administration. It is intended to help the administrator analyze his duties and responsibilities and to suggest approaches and methods that other administrators have proved by actual experience.

The correspondence course based on the book can be taken either by an individual city employee, or by a group of employees who wish to train by the discussion method. Students send in answers to the essay type questions, and experienced city managers and other city administrators write critiques on the lessons. Many thousands of municipal officials are graduates of one or more of the training courses.

Page 101 / Illinois Municipal Review / May 1958