ABSTRACT
The council-manager form of government represents a unique approach to governance and management. The council-manager form arose during a period of reform that began in the late nineteenth century. The reformers incorporated many of the features in the first model charter developed by the National Municipal League in 1897 which organized the governmental form around the principle of the strong elected executive. The roles of the city manager as perceived by practitioners and the values to which they adhered have changed in complex ways over time despite the common impression that there has been a slow but steady progression toward more emphasis on policy supported by more activist values. The popularizers of the council-manager plan reinforced the idea that the manager should be simply an administrative technician. The civil rights movement was transforming the political agenda at the local, state, and national levels and changing the nature of political activism by minorities throughout the United States.
