Strategic Public Management

CHAPTER 16 ________________________________Citistat: Evaluating City Management in Baltimore, Maryland

James Horton

Performance measurement in local government continues to be an elusive target at the dawn of the 21st century. Issues of efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, and transparency continue to be problematic for public administrators. They must work with limited resources and engage citizens, and they are expected to emulate the private sector. Governments at all levels have implemented a variety of performance measurement programs since Clarence Ridley wrote in 1938, “It is not enough to be honest, but governments must be efficient as well.” Today, as public administrators continue their quest toward improving local government, ...