Whither the Mayors? A Note on Mayoral Careers

Murphy, Russell D.

doi:10.2307/2130028

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Seventeen percent, however, went on to hold another significant public office (president, governor, senator, cabinet member, statewide elected official, U.S. representative, legislator, or judge). Eight percent managed to hold a major national or statewide office (president, governor, cabinet, or congressional office), a figure that is comparable to Murphy's 1980 findings. Eight percent of mayors won legislative or judicial office, and 9% held major city, city council, or major county offices, figures that again are similar to Murphy's (1980) results.…”

Section: Post‐mayoral Careerssupporting

confidence: 68%

“…Eight percent managed to hold a major national or statewide office (president, governor, cabinet, or congressional office), a figure that is comparable to Murphy's 1980 findings. Eight percent of mayors won legislative or judicial office, and 9% held major city, city council, or major county offices, figures that again are similar to Murphy's (1980) results. Post‐mayoral legislative and judicial service, however, was most common early in the 19th century and has subsequently nearly disappeared.…”

Section: Post‐mayoral Careerssupporting

confidence: 68%

“…A number of authors (Gittell, 1963; Kotter & Lawrence, 1974; Wolman, Page, & Reavley, 1990) also commented on the dead end nature of mayoral office. Murphy (1980), however, found that the percentage of big city mayors who were elected to higher office was similar to the percentage of governors and members of Congress who were elected to higher office. Holli (1999) found important differences among cities in the extent to which mayors were able to obtain higher office.…”

Section: Mayoral Recruitment and Institutionalizationmentioning

confidence: 85%

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Big City Mayors: Political Specialization and Business Domination in the 19Th and 20Th Centuries

McNitt

2011

Journal of Urban Affairs

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An examination of mayoral recruitment in 19 major American cities from 1820 to 1995 finds that mayors are now more likely to have prior political experience, serve longer in office, and have previously served on city councils. They are also less likely to come from business backgrounds, and those mayors who are still in business are less likely to have big business and manufacturing backgrounds. A multivariate analysis of mayors serving between 1870 and 1995 indicates that mayors from business backgrounds are less likely to be selected when their cities have partisan elections, when their cities have a large African American population, and when mayors are machine candidates. This analysis also finds that the number of mayors with business backgrounds declines as the number of college graduates increases, even though (after 1896) political machines disappeared and more cities adopted reform (council manager and commission) governments.During the colonial era American mayors were city council members selected by their councils to serve for short, usually one-year, terms. In the late 1820s mayors began to be directly elected and after the mid 19th century most mayoral terms increased from one to two and eventually four years. Power was consolidated in the 20th century, when city councils that were previously large and bicameral were reduced to single smaller chambers. These institutional changes are, however, only half the story. The other half of the story is how the kind of individuals who became mayor changed over time.As Robert Dahl (1961) taught us, the first question for any political system is who governs. Among the concerns of those interested in leadership selection is the extent to which business interests dominate government. When working with more limited historical data, the recruitment of mayors with business backgrounds is the best indicator of that relationship. Mayoral occupation is important because arguably it is associated with policy preferences and performance in office. Studies of public opinion discovered differences in opinion between the public sector, the manufacturing sector, and high-tech employees (Prysby, 1979). Studies of business faculty and students indicate that they have the most conservative opinions of any academic disciplines (Ladd & Lipset, 1975). Sidanius and Pratto's study (1993) of American and Swedish college students demonstrated a link in both societies between support for free-market capitalism and racism.

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Section: Post‐mayoral Careerssupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Post‐mayoral Careerssupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Mayoral Recruitment and Institutionalizationmentioning

confidence: 85%

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Big City Mayors: Political Specialization and Business Domination in the 19Th and 20Th Centuries

McNitt

2011

Journal of Urban Affairs

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“…40 Security became a concern for the UNDP because the needs of people during different forms of emergencies, be it a natural disaster, war, or humanitarian crisis, are inseparable from sustainable development. 41 The result was the 1994 iteration of the UNDP's Human Development Report which coined human security. The Report attempted to create a vision of human security that could be adopted by both states and the UN in furthering social development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

International law and human security in a kaleidoscopic world

Gilder

2020

Indian Journal of International Law

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International law is being challenged by a multitude of new actors and networks that do not fit within the traditional Westphalian system. Similarly, security is increasingly undermined by, for example, economic, health, and environmental threats that can affect individuals' daily lives and know no state boundaries. This is the kaleidoscopic world as outlined by Edith Brown Weiss. The concept of 'human security' has been advanced to inform decision-making on threats to security in the interest of individuals in a bottom-up manner. This article looks forward to methods that can counter what could be perceived as a legitimacy crisis in international law. First, some of the current challenges which international law faces are explained ranging from globalisation, the declining state-based order, and decentralised security threats. Second, the concept of human security is defined, and its contents expounded. Lastly, the thesis is advanced that a conceptual framework of human security can reorientate international law to be responsive to the kaleidoscopic world by using UN peace operations as an example of where human security could have a profound impact. Keywords United Nations Á Human security Á Humanization Á Globalization Á International organizations Á UN peacekeeping Lecturer in Law, Royal Holloway, University of London. I am grateful to the Curatorium of The Hague Academy of International Law, and Baroness Rosalyn Higgins GBE QC, for the award of a scholarship to attend the 2017 Summer Courses where I was able to follow Professor Edith Brown Weiss' General Course on the Kaleidoscopic World. Thanks also go to Dr. Chijioke Chijioke-Oforji for his helpful comments on an earlier draft. All websites were last accessed 2 March 2020. Errors are my own.

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“…Gittell (1963) contends that mayors generally are unsuccessful in seeking election to higher offices, particularly when they attempt to campaign outside their home city. Murphy (1980), on the other hand, argues that mayors tend to perform at similar levels to those coming from other "stepping-stone" offices-particularly state legislators. 1 Moreover, he contends that the mayoralty is frequently the culmination of a political career, a point supported by other research (McNitt 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Mayors Run for Higher Office? New Evidence on Progressive Ambition

Einstein

Glick

Palmer

et al. 2018

American Politics Research

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The mayor’s office potentially offers a launchpad for statewide and national political ambitions. We know relatively little, however, about how frequently mayors actually run for higher office, and which mayors choose to do so. This article combines longitudinal data on the career paths of the mayors of 200 big cities with new survey and interview data to investigate these questions. While we find that individual and city traits—especially gender—have some predictive power, the overwhelming story is that relatively few mayors—just under one-fifth—ever seek higher office. We suggest that ideological, institutional, and electoral factors all help to explain why so few mayors exhibit progressive ambition.

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Whither the Mayors? A Note on Mayoral Careers

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Big City Mayors: Political Specialization and Business Domination in the 19Th and 20Th Centuries

Big City Mayors: Political Specialization and Business Domination in the 19Th and 20Th Centuries

International law and human security in a kaleidoscopic world

Do Mayors Run for Higher Office? New Evidence on Progressive Ambition

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