ABSTRACT
The 1983 mayoral election in Philadelphia heralded a breakthrough for big-city mayors, particularly black mayors. Plans and reports without the political leadership to develop programs and implement them generated questions about the political skills of Mayor Wilson Goode. Strong political opposition and the inability to fulfill Mayor Goode's agenda is noticeable in several issue areas. The hallmark of the Goode administration has been a reliance on strategic-planning approaches and a style of governing that is devoid of political adroitness. Politically weakened and unable to exert political leadership skills, Mayor Goode made little progress in building a political consensus for some of the most critical issues facing the city after the 1985 incident. Mayor Goode's inability to exhibit political astuteness has been costly, but his historic standing in the black community enables him to maintain much of his original electoral base. The propensity of the Goode administration to generate planning documents and other technical reports was not limited to economic development.
