ABSTRACT
More important, the inability to measure the performance of a local government makes it difficult to examine the benefits that can be derived from alternative improvements. In the absence of accepted standards of performance, citizens have watched helplessly as local governments have mushroomed in size, assuming responsibilities without developing the management skills or using the management tools that are necessary to exercise responsibilities. The management process consists of three major phases: planning, implementation, and evaluation. Understanding the management process in local government serves to integrate politics with public administration. By focusing on performance, the management process integrates public policy with administrative results, bringing political science and public administration together in the study of public management. The literature about local government, urban management, public administration, political science, and related fields contains a variety of terms which are used differently by different authors.
