The Reform Impulse in American Political Culture - Understanding Progressivism
The reform impulse in American political culture, as defined by Richard Hofstadter, explores the restless pursuit of change and improvement in society. Progressivism, characterized by criticism and pragmatic change, aimed to enhance social and economic reform through a universalistic approach to the public interest. Upholding values such as honesty, efficiency, and impartiality, this movement emphasized the importance of contributing to the common good with integrity and expertise.
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Craig M. Wheeland, Ph.D. Senior Vice Provost for Academics and Professor of Public Administration Villanova University April 9, 2022
The Reform Impulse in American Political Culture Progressivism in the Early 20thCentury The Legacy of Reform in American Local Government The Professional Municipal Manager Examples of Effective Professional Managers in Pennsylvania Conclusion
The reform impulse in American political culture is best defined by Richard Hofstadter (1955, p. 16) who suggests that: [a] great part of both the strength and the weaknesses of our national existence lies in the fact that Americans do not abide very quietly the evils of life. We are forever restlessly pitting ourselves against them, demanding changes, improvements, remedies, but not often with sufficient sense of the limits that the human condition will in the end insistently impose on us. Richard Hofstadter, Historian Restlessness
Richard Hofstadter defined Progressivism as a broad impulse toward criticism and change that was everywhere so conspicuous after 1900, when the already forceful stream of agrarian discontent was enlarged and redirected by the growing enthusiasm of the middle-class people for social and economic reform Ernest Griffith suggested the nature of Progressivism is pragmatism with a conscience
The Progressive reformers were public- regarding so the purpose of getting involved in government was to contribute to the common good Not Private-Regarding They featured a universalistic conception of the public interest, which means that people seek to promote interests that we have in common Not Particularistic 5
Honesty Efficiency Economy Impartiality Expertise Americanism 6
Honesty should be a paramount concern in public and private life A common definition of honesty is not lying, cheating, stealing, or taking unfair advantage, honorable, truthful, trustworthy Notions that there are any types of graft that are honest and therefore OK is patently false and destroys the democratic character of government Citizens have an obligation to help improve the lives and opportunities of all members of the community 7
Efficiency: government should minimize expenditures when providing services that is, government should produce a standard amount of out-put at the lowest possible cost 8
Economy: government should produce only those policies and services which cannot be produced by citizens and organizations in the private sector; Also, government should not waste resources on low priority services and instead rely on the private sector to meet those needs 9
Impartiality: government should deliver services without fear or favor ; allegiances to a political party, a group, a neighborhood, a class, a religion, friends and family should not be used to favor one citizen over another or one group over another 10
Expertise: professional managers and specialists in different services need to be hired to work in government Indeed - the entire workforce should be hired based on qualifications to do the job Elected officials and citizens should rely on the advice and know-how of the experts working in government in order to make rational decisions 11
Americanism: is a patriotic commitment to make America live up to the promise of the Founding Period As Herbert Croly a leading reformer once argued government should be a tool citizens use to create public policies, services and laws that address society s problems and help communities realize the promise of American life The Promise of American Life Herbert Croly 1 2
Reformers created good government organizations in their communities to promote their plans and persuade voters to support their candidates They usually worked outside of the political parties, but in some communities, they eventually took control of a political party and used it to pursue reform In 1896, more than 180 local good government organizations belonged to the National Municipal League which had formed in 1894 13
Codes of Ethics and Ethics Training Non-Partisan Elections Merit Systems to Hire Employees The Model City Charter (Strong) Mayor-Council Form Council-Manager Form City Management Professionalism
Progressive reformers created the plan in 1910 and endorsed the plan in National Municipal League s model city charter in 1915 The elected city council members vote to appoint a professional city manager to whom the council delegates administrative and managerial authority over government operations The city manager serves at the pleasure of the city council and so could be removed at-will 15
Efficiency, Effectiveness, Equity and Inclusion Personal and Professional Integrity a commitment to the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) s and Association of Pennsylvania Municipal Management (APMM) s Code of Ethics Code of Ethics Advanced ability to use essential management practices Extensive knowledge of services Access to information networks
IBM Global Business Services benchmarking study of the 100 largest cities in the United States, found that management was the single most important factor impacting the efficiency of the city Management is making (a) strategic decisions citizens and at what level of service they will be delivered and strategic decisions about what services will be provided to which (b) operational decisions deployed to provide those services operational decisions about the types of delivery models will be Source: Edwards, D. (2011). Smarter, faster, cheaper: An operations efficiency benchmarking study of 100 American cities. IBM Global Business Services. Retrieved from http://icma.org/en/icma/knowledge_network/documents/kn/Document/303182/Smarter_Faster_Cheaper
Respect Respect and partner partner with elected officials Refrain from all political activities confidence in professional administrators Refrain from all political activities which undermine public Follow merit principles merit principles in managing staff Handle problems without discrimination principle and justice without discrimination on-the-basis of Keep the elected officials and community well well- -informed informed Avoid personal gain information Avoid personal gain through favors or use of confidential Commit to life life- -long learning long learning and professional development
Graduate Education Master of Public Administration (MPA degree Professional Training ICMA Core Management Practices Financial Management and Budgeting Human Resources Management Strategic Leadership and Planning Communication and Information Sharing Policy Facilitation and Implementation Negotiation and Mediation Source: International City/County Management Association. (2022). Practices for effective local government management. Retrieved from http://icma.org/en/university/about/management_practices/overview MPA degree) ICMA and and APMM APMM credentials and certificates credentials and certificates
Public Safety Police Fire Public Works Street and Road Maintenance Sanitation Water and Sewer Storm Water Management Parks and Recreation Libraries Human Services Economic Development Land Use and Zoning
Relationships working in neighboring municipalities and across the state are a source of information to help managers do their jobs well and creatively Relationships with their professional peers Access to reports databases to how improve municipal services and manage problems facing communities ICMA s local government professionals committed to fostering excellence and innovation in local government APMM organized a group reports, articles in news digests databases and listserves news digests, listserves provide information as ICMA s Knowledge Network Knowledge Network - is an online community for APMM organized a group in LinkedIn (>100 members)
Paul Cornell population Paul Cornell, Swatara Township, 22,000 Stephanie Teoli 45,000 population Stephanie Teoli- -Kuhls Kuhls, Middletown Township, Greg Smith population Greg Smith, Moon Township, 25,000
Economic Problem losing 2400 jobs and Harrisburg East Mall declines putting at risk about 940 jobs The business park and mall are next to each other Paul and his staff worked with new owners of business park to transform it into TecPort high-tech business park Paul and his staff worked closely with developers who purchased the financially troubled Harrisburg East Mall in order to bring Bass Pro along with other anchor stores to the mall Economic Problem: AMP Business Park closes TecPort, a Bass Pro
Communication and Economic Problem Oxford Valley Mall Access to government services from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month Any type of government business with Township staff during the event from registering for a parks and recreation program to obtaining tax parcel information Communication and Economic Problem Stephanie Teoli-Kuhls Middletown at the Mall
Moons Manager for 24 years Smith s pursuit of professional development as well as his years of service earned him ICMA s designation as a Credentialed Manager Awarded Manager of the Year presented by the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, an association of about 2500 townships Served as President of APMM During his final year of service, Smith tried to resolve concerns he and his staff had with the questionable decisions made by the majority of Moon s Board of Supervisors Record of Exemplary Service Greg Smith
Pay-to-play approach to municipal contracts Appointing a solicitor and engineering firm without informing and reaching a consensus with staff, or with minority members of the Board as had been the traditional practice in Moon and without seeking bids for these positions Conflict of Interest The solicitor s law practice as a defense attorney seemed to be a conflict of interest with his duties as solicitor, because his clients included at least five individuals charged by Moon police Questionable Billing Compensating the engineering firm for work not authorized, not carefully documented nor sufficient to merit the amount of the billed hours, and deemed of low quality by Smith and his staff
Although Moons electoral context is partisan and competitive, for 23 of his 24 years serving Moon, Smith reported that once elected the five supervisors all worked in unison in a non-partisan fashion, and it would be difficult for a spectator to know whether a Supervisor was an R or a D For Smith and his management team, the actions by the leaders of the new majority taking office after the 2007 election - broke with the tradition of non-partisanship, respect for and collaboration with Moon s professional management team and the ethical practices long established in Moon s political culture Smith steadfastly adhered to the ICMA (APMM) Code of Ethics, reflected on his personal sense of integrity, and consulted with other professional managers and with ICMA s Ethics Advisor to decide steps to take to resolve the issues
Smiths performance illuminates the difficulty in deciding a course of action when the bright light of illegality is lacking (although suspected) Indeed, this profile features how a professional administrator and his staff found their way through the fog surrounding a series of ethical dilemmas in order to answer the basic question: Should I resign? After nearly a year of pursuing different ways to help the elected officials understand the problems he and his staff identified and failing to persuade the majority of the Board to adopt corrective courses of action, not only did Smith choose to resign after two decades of service, but so did both of his assistant managers
The establishment of the Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service continues the legacy of more than a century of reform in local government The adoption of Codes of Ethics defines the meaning of good government, inspires citizens to public service and empowers citizens to hold officials accountable to the promise of American life Professional Local Government Managers contribute to the pursuit of good government by: Partnering government for their communities Offering a full effective, equitable and responsive government Partnering with elected officials to achieve good full- -time time commitment to ethical, efficient,
Contact Information: craig.wheeland@villanova.edu
