P. Edward French

A sentiment analysis of U.S. local government tweets: The connection between tone and citizen involvement

Abstract As social media tools become more popular at all levels of government, more research is needed to determine how the platforms can be used to create meaningful citizen–government collaboration. Many entities use the tools in one-way, push manners. The aim of this research is to determine if sentiment (tone) can positively influence citizen participation with government via social media. Using a systematic random sample of 125 U.S. cities, we found that positive sentiment is more likely to engender digital participation but this was not a perfect one-to-one relationship. Some cities that had an overall positive sentiment score and displayed a participatory style of social media use did not have positive citizen sentiment scores. We argue that positive tone is only one part of a successful social media interaction plan, and encourage social media managers to actively manage platforms to use activities that spur participation.

Executive Behavior and Decision Making in Small U.S. Cities

This study examines how chief executives in small U.S. cities allocate their time, view their involvement in decisions related to the dimensions of the governmental process, who they consult in making decisions about local services, and the extent to which they perceive that their decisions are influenced by community interest groups. The study confirms that several differences exist among the different types of executives with respect to time allocation and role emphases. City managers spent more time on and perceived themselves to be more extensively involved in decisions related to local mission, policy, administration, and management compared with mayors. Mayors and city managers exhibited different patterns of consultation with key stakeholders inmaking decisions about local services. City managers were more likely than mayors to engage in activities related to the city’s mission and policy, but they tempered that involvement with a more inclusive pattern of consultation.

Can students truly benefit from state lotteries: a look at lottery expenditures towards education in the American states

Abstract State operated lotteries are popular revenue generating devices used by many state governments to supplement per pupil education expenditures with “voluntary” tax dollars. States without lotteries are stipulating that gaming revenues offer a windfall of hope for per pupil funding disparities across the American states. This research suggests that most state operated lotteries are failing to meet policymaker’s expectations as an alternative supplemental source of revenue for education.

An Assessment of the Current and Future State of Human Resource Management at the Local Government Level

As academics and practitioners continue to challenge traditional models regarding the nature of the public employee relationship with government, increased emphasis on the contributions of strategic planning, formal workforce planning, and performance measurement to the mission and goals of public organizations have occurred. This study evaluates the opinions of human resource management professionals at the local government level to determine the importance of numerous functions and activities to the practice of human resource management today. Survey respondents are also requested to project the importance of these same concepts in 2019. We find that many of the traditional HR management practices are still considered very essential by human resource professionals at the local level; and the four major principles of reinvented HRM anticipated to emanate over a decade ago have been adopted at a much slower pace than expected.

Assessing the Temporary Use of At-will Employment for Reorganization and Workforce Reduction in Mississippi State Government:

Over the past two decades, at-will employment initiatives and a wave of other reforms have taken place, aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the public sector and the control that government has over it. Administrators in the State of Mississippi have continued to propose at-will employment for state workers, at least on a temporary basis, to facilitate reorganization. This study assesses state human resource directors’ attitudes toward the incremental use of at-will employment and the terminations that have resulted from its use. The authors find that while an incremental move toward the at-will environment may produce more optimism in the perception of human resource directors regarding motivation, performance, efficiency, and value, uncertainty still remains as to whether or not the declassification of civil service employees to at-will status truly enhances public sector employee responsiveness, productivity, and management.

Determinants of Local Government Workforce Planning

This article evaluates the utilization of workforce planning by municipalities across the United States with data derived from a survey of local government human resource professionals. The research demonstrates that certain aspects of workforce planning such as assessments of employee retirement, long-term recruitment and retention, and training and development have been integrated into the human resource functions of several municipalities. The authors also find that local governments that recognize the importance of training and development, information management, managing diversity, unions, and council–manager forms of government are more progressive in their implementation of workforce planning initiatives. However, many local governments still fail to recognize the opportunities that comprehensive workforce planning presents in developing and achieving the strategic goals of their organizations and managing human capital, especially given the political and economic climates.

Policy, management, and political activities: A current evaluation of the time allocations of mayors and managers in small cities and towns

Abstract This study examines executive time allocations in cities and towns with populations between 2,500 and 25,000. The majority of previous research has focused on municipalities with populations greater than 50,000. Do mayors and managers in small municipalities spend the same amount of time on policy, management, and political activities as their counterparts in larger municipalities? Four-hundred-sixty-seven surveys from mayors and city managers are evaluated, and the data reveal that a significant relationship between form of government and the time these individuals devote to policy, management, and political activities does exist. This analysis confirms that managers in small cities and towns do spend more time on policy and management activities, and less time on political activities than mayors in small cities and towns. Also, the research demonstrates that differences in time devoted to these three activities can be seen when small and large municipalities are compared.

FORM OF GOVERNMENT AND PER CAPITA EXPENDITURES: AN EVALUATION OF SMALL CITIES AND TOWNS

The impact of form of government on municipal expenditures has been debated by several scholars and researchers over the past thirty years. Part of the support for preference of the council-manager form of government over the other government forms relies on claims that the council-manager form provides increased efficiency in the operation of government. Results of numerous municipal expenditure studies, however, reveal that this outcome is not always clearly demonstrated. Almost all of this existing literature has utilized data from municipalities with populations greater than 25,000. This study evaluates the relationship between form of government and per capita expenditures in cities and towns with populations between 2,500 and 25,000. Survey data from 559 cities and towns are analyzed to determine whether or not their form of government can be significantly related to municipal per capita expenditures. Results of this analysis reveal that council-manager cities and towns exhibit significantly higher per capita expenditure levels than cities and towns with the non-council-manager forms of government.

Assessing New Public Mana gement's Focus on Performance Measurement in the Public Sector: A Look at No Child Left Behind

New Public Management, with its emphasis on debureaucratization, decentralization, and accountability, has attempted to make public sector organizations function in the same way as those in the private sector. Its implications for traditional governmental entities, including the public school system, are yet to be fully determined. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 was intended to decrease achievement gaps caused by race, class, first language, and learning abilities. The acts foci of accountability, testing, sanctions, and rewards in the educational process are central to the federal governments framework for shaping the goals and outcomes of educational policy across the United States. The present research indicates that the development and use of performance measures to hold educators accountable and improve performance is limited by organized employee groups and enhanced by minority student populations. At this time, significant increases in student performance as a result of NCLB efforts are not evidenced.

Assessing the Variations in Reward Preference for Local Government Employees in Terms of Position, Public Service Motivation, and Public Sector Motivation

The reward preference of public sector employees has often been evaluated in terms of public service motivation (PSM). The present research, utilizing survey data from 927 municipal employees in Mississippi, reevaluates the importance of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards to employees in local government in the light of changes in workforce composition, economic conditions, performance, and accountability that have challenged traditional public management approaches and techniques. PSM and employee position are found to be significantly related to the level of importance currently assigned to reward factors and to extrinsic and intrinsic reward variables in choosing to work for a local government. Minority status is also an important determinant of both PSM and the reward preferences of employees in this data set.