What is the history of the council-manager form?
Born out of the turn-of-the-century progressive reform movement, the council-manager system of local government is one of the few original American contributions to political theory. In 1908, Staunton, Virginia, instituted the first position legally defining, by ordinance, the broad authority and responsibility associated with today's professional local government manager. Sumter, South Carolina, was the first city to adopt a charter incorporating the basic principles of council-manager government in 1912. Westmount, Quebec, introduced the form to Canada in 1913. The first large city to adopt the plan was Dayton, Ohio, in 1914. The first counties to adopt it in the 1930s were Arlington County, Virginia, and Durham County and Robeson County, North Carolina.

Since its establishment, the council-manager form has become the most popular form of government in the United States in communities with populations of 5,000 or greater. The form also is popular in Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and West Germany. For more than 80 years, council-manager government has responded to the changing needs of citizens and their communities.

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1. What is the council-manager form, which is used in so many local governments?
2. Is it a responsive form of government?
3. What is the council's function?
4. What is the manager's function?
5. What is the cost to the local government of appointing a professional manager?
6. Does the manager participate in policy determination?
7. Where does the mayor fit in?
8. Are all council-manager governments structured the same way?
9. Is this form of government used only in certain kinds of cities?
10. How many Americans live in communities that operate under council-manager government?
11. Is the form popular in large communities?
12. How much citizen participation is possible under council-manager government?
13. What is the history of the council-manager form?
14. How can a community adopt this form of government?
15. How is the manager selected?
16. Does the manager have to be a local resident at the time the appointment is made?
17. What salary does the manager receive?
18. Can the manager be fired?
19. Where do managers get their prior experience?