ABSTRACT
City councils, managers, and mayors are central to local government, not least because they are visible and accountable to the public. But they are often described as the tip of iceberg of local government since, like icebergs, only a tiny bit of government shows, while the bulk lurks beneath the surface. About 500,000 elected officials head U.S. cities, counties, and other local governments. Overall, local governments employ nearly thirty times that many people—over 13 million (see Figure 8.1) and growing. Over half of these work in education, while nearly 2 million are in public safety (police, firefighters, and corrections officers). Combined with state and federal employees, one out of every six jobs in the nonagricultural economy is in government. These public employees constitute the hidden, some say treacherous, part of the iceberg.
