The political roots of city managers in Kansas
Flentje, H. Edward Billingham, Chase M.
Flentje, H. Edward
Billingham, Chase M.
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2024
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Article
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Keywords
City managers--Kansas,Kansas history
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Citation
Flentje, H. E., & Billingham, C. (2024). The political roots of city managers in Kansas. Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains, 47(3), 178-201. https://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-history-autumn-2024/20954
Abstract
Cities across Kansas adopted the manager form of government in the twentieth century. This structure, wherein most administrative responsibilities are delegated to a professional manager appointed by a local elected governing body, was designed as a model of “good government”; it would depoliticize local government, professionalize civil service, and root out corruption, graft, and scandal. Despite its nonpolitical orientation, implementing the manager plan involved highly politicized and partisan campaigns in the 1910s, especially in the city of Wichita, where the proposal faced substantial resistance. This article by H. Edward Flentje, originally published in Kansas History in 1984, traces the origins of the manager from of government, its major proponents (especially Wichita Beacon publisher and future governor and U.S. senator Henry J. Allen), and the political struggles that ensued, leading ultimately to its spread across Kansas. In the new foreword to the reprinted article, Flentje and urban sociologist Chase M. Billingham provide historical and political context, update some of the original findings, and situate the legacy of this research within the tradition of urban historical scholarship in Kansas.
Table of Contents
Description
Foreword by H. Edward Flentje and Chase M. Billingham
Publisher
Kansas State Historical Society
Journal
Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains
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ISSN
0149-9114