Robert K. Whelan

Urban service delivery

Fisk, Donald, Herbert Kiesling, and Thoms Muller, Private Provision of Public Services: An over- View, The Urban Institute, Washington, D.C., 1978, 106 pp.,

CANADIAN MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN AN AGE OF NEOLIBERALISM

6.00. Lineberry, Robert L., Equality and Urban Policy: The Distribution of Municipal Public Services, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, 1977, 205 pp. Nivola, Pietro S . , The Urban Service Problem : A Study of Housing Inspection, Lexington Books, Lexington, Massachusetts, 1979, 175 pp.,

The urban technology systems experiment: A case study in the utilization of scientific and technical information in urban policy-making

18.95. Prottas , Jeffrey Manditch, People-processing : The Street-level Bureaucrat in Public Service Bureacacies, Lexington Books, Lexington, Massachusetts, 1979, 179 PP. Thursz, Daniel and Joseph Vigilante (eds . ) , Reaching People : The Structure of Neighborhood Services, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, 1978, 277 pp.

URBAN REGIMES AND RACIAL POLITICS IN NEW ORLEANS

This manuscript addresses three major themes confronting Canadian provinces and localities as Canadas provincial and local governments adjust to newly implemented federal policies aimed at eliminating the nations fiscal ailments. Provincial mandates for greater local government productivity, the philosophy that less government equals “better” government, and the proper role of local governments in democratic governance and participation are explored. Findings suggest that measures taken in response to changes in federal policy militate against the tradition of democratic participation at the local level. Among these are the provincial laws calling for the consolidation of local governments. The result, it is argued, is the elimination of governmental units with which many citizens identified. Furthermore, the increased size in council districts changed the very nature of representation as it was once known and accepted.

Performance Appraisal in Local Government: A Current Update

Abstract City governments are often reluctant to utilize relevant scientific and technical information. The article discusses one effort to improve communications and knowledge in this area, the Urban Technology System (UTS) experiment, sponsored by Public Technology, Incorporated. The article is divided into three sections: the background and overview of the experiment, a description of the programs activities in its first 3 yr, and a subjective evaluation of the contribution of UTS. The main conclusions are that the program has had its successes, but that systematic evaluation is necessary.