​ICMA's Managing Local Government: Cases in Effectiveness, Second Edition, edited by Robert Blair and Kimberly L. Nelson, serves as a comprehensive resource of local government case studies for local government professionals, students, and educators. ​

Building on the popular first edition, the second edition provides all-new, real-world case studies that explore challenges and opportunities in local government management, offering actionable insights and strategies for effective governance. ​

Nelson and Blair shared insights on their process and purpose of the book:

Is there a lesson from the book that might seem obvious or easy to understand, but more difficult to follow through on in real work scenarios?

Blair: One of the challenges of creating case studies is making them as realistic as possible, yet providing a principle or lesson for the student. Management challenges rarely involve a single issue or principle. Focusing on the ICMA competencies seemed to be a way to provide meaning lessons to the students. Most of the case studies in this book involve collaboration between a practitioner and an academic to achieve that balance.

Nelson: I think that is the overall objective of the case book, to try to place the context of what students learn through textbooks and from their instructors into realistic work. 

Do you have a favorite theme or specific case study? What made it stand out?

Nelson: I think it would be unfair to single out a single case study (particularly since Bob and I also wrote several of the cases!). Personally, since I study corruption and ethics, I like the cases that concern ethical issues, like “Evaluating and Firing Charter Officers.”

Blair: One of the reasons for this new edition of the ICMA case study book series, which goes back to the early 1960s, was to include case studies that reflected challenges that current managers face, such as COVID, and other social and political issues. Cities often are the face of global and national conflicts. The job of city managers today are much more complicated.

How did you find the right blend of academic learning and real-world situations?

Blair: We organized the cases around functional areas, such as budgeting and human resource management, so that instructors could pick the ones most relevant to the academic unit. In my example, since I was a local government manager before I was a professor, I selected cases that were similar to challenges I faced as an administrator. 

The discussion questions can be addressed by individual students, or in a discussion group, where ideas and perceptions can be debated. This is often how decisions are made in the real world.

Nelson: We encouraged the authors (who were primarily academics) to work with practitioners in the development of the cases. Several of the cases are fully co-authored by practitioners.

Given that this book is intended to bring local government management “to life” so to speak, it was important to ensure they are accurate representations of real-world situations.

Final Thoughts

Nelson: I believe this book is a useful supplement for local government management courses. For example, for a course on local government operations, an instructor can find a range of department/service areas in this book to match with the course content.

Blair: This book can be an excellent companion to a local government management text, or if possible, can be a stand-alone text for a course or workshop that is case study oriented. We also provide an aftermath or follow-up instructor’s manual that provides a summary of what happened, so students can check their answers or management decisions, including another set of discussion questions. Finally, it is important to note that this book was a collaboration between the Graduate Education Committee of ICMA and the Local Government Education Committee of NASPAA: the network of schools of public administration and policy.