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WINTER 2012 - National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and ...

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Knowledge <strong>and</strong> Skills for Policy Making:<br />

Stories from Local <strong>Public</strong><br />

Managers in Florida<br />

Yahong Zhang<br />

Rutgers University at Newark<br />

Robert Lee <strong>and</strong> Kaifeng Yang<br />

Florida State University<br />

ABSTRACT<br />

Local public managers regularly participate in the legislative policy-making<br />

process <strong>and</strong> even play a leadership role in policy preparation <strong>and</strong> deliberation.<br />

This phenomenon challenges the dichotomy model <strong>of</strong> the politicsadministration<br />

relationship <strong>and</strong> raises some rarely studied questions: How do<br />

managers work with their elected <strong>of</strong>ficials to shape legislative policy making?<br />

What knowledge <strong>and</strong> skills do they need to participate effectively in policy<br />

making? And how can MPA programs help prepare students who are interested<br />

in a local government career for this role? To answer these questions, we<br />

conducted interviews with city <strong>and</strong> county managers in Florida. The opinions<br />

from local public managers help us better underst<strong>and</strong> their role in policy making<br />

<strong>and</strong> provide us with valuable insights about the development <strong>of</strong> MPA education.<br />

In the public administration literature, scholars have recognized local<br />

public managers’ participation in the local policy-making process <strong>and</strong> criticized<br />

the politics-administration dichotomy (e.g., French & Folz, 2004; Hassett &<br />

Watson, 2002; Lee, 2001; Montjoy & Watson, 1995; Nalb<strong>and</strong>ian, 1999; Newell<br />

& Ammons, 1987; Svara, 1999a). There remain some questions to be further<br />

addressed: How do local public managers work with elected <strong>of</strong>ficials in the<br />

policy-making process? What knowledge <strong>and</strong> skill set should they possess for<br />

policy-making responsibilities? And how can MPA programs help? This study<br />

explores these questions based on interview data collected in Florida. The article<br />

starts with the background <strong>of</strong> the research questions, followed by literature review,<br />

research methods, <strong>and</strong> findings. Discussions <strong>and</strong> implications are at the end.<br />

JPAE 18(1), 183–208<br />

Journal <strong>of</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Affairs</strong> Education 183

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