Rather than accept present theoretical approaches to the study of community political power as a basis for developing new theory, this monograph examines the saliency of the approaches themselves. By considering what kinds of data and questions are excluded by Hunter's "repute analysis" technique and Dahl's "issue analysis"…

This book is a collection of 14 papers that grew out of activities and conferences of the Committee for Community Research of the International Sociological Association. All of the papers reflect a general concern for establishing an international basis for the study of local political power and decision-making. The various authors attempt to…

This study looks at how testing affects critical decisions for U.S. students, focusing on the impact of testing on individual students. It examines common misuses of tests, their political and social contexts, what happens when test issues are taken to court, special student populations, social promotion, and other issues of current interest. The…

The pool of candidates for urban superintendencies is dwindling, and those who take the jobs are likely to serve for only 2 or 3 years. This book explores contemporary conditions surrounding the urban superintendency and looks at the lives of 17 superintendents who were in office in large cities at the start of 1993. All were members of the…

This book focuses on the question of how citizen participation affects the making of the school budget, the crucial controlling instrument of modern bureaucratic organizations. The four communities studied differed in size, social and economic characteristics, and form of government. Chapter 1 introduces the topic and begins the discussion of the…

This handbook is addressed to organizations with goals related to post high school learning. Basic information is provided about future societal developments in the United States that should be taken into consideration in making organizational decisions. Some practical methods for long-range planning are also outlined. Four areas of societal…

A fictional account of 1 school year in the life of a university president is presented to illustrate the conflicts within the university. A meeting with state officials regarding the university's 1979-1980 budget request is described, including the president's premeeting anticipation and his thoughts about the dynamics of interactions. Diverse…

Community colleges are failing to realize their potential because of problems at the very highest level of policy and management decision-making. Publicly elected trustees are apt to have political allegiances. Community college boards are usually too small to represent the range of talent and experience needed for constructing effective trustees…

This monograph provides a documentation of some recent case studies pertaining to educational facilities planning in Chicago. It represents the endeavors of experts from a variety of disciplines, each of whom has investigated a specific aspect of the facility planning problem in Chicago. The studies reflect methodological advance as well as…

This book closely examines the functioning of the Education Committee of the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention. As an administrative assistant to the committee throughout the convention, the author was able to gather detailed information about the committee's activities through personal observation and interviews with committee members.…

Budgeting and budget planning in higher education are considered, and the long-standing debate concerning whether budgeting is largely a technical or a political exercise is reviewed in this monograph. The roles of various participants in the budgeting process and the form of their participation, with emphasis on centralization of authority in the…

Major decisions made by public institutions that resulted in the location of a permanent campus of the University of Illinois first within the Chicago area and then at a particular site are examined. The decision-making process is examined from economic, social, and political stances. The respective roles played in the process by the university,…

In this book, three noted social scientists and six educators realistically assess the implications of today's political, educational, and social trends on future public education. Each of the nine original essays is followed by an editorial commentary, highlighting the inherent implications for schools, and by an addendum wherein issues…

This manual is designed to help librarians anticipate and resist censorship of library materials, how to handle complaints, and how to write legislators effectively. Part I, "Library Bill of Rights," and Part II, "Protecting the Freedom to Read," present the text and historical development of the American Library Association's…

This book systematically considers governance in the community college, focusing on how decisions are actually made and describing the roles and interactions of all participant groups in the governance process. Community college governance today is an amalgam of procedures borrowed from colleges, universities and high schools, but there are signs…