01167pab a2200169 454500008004000000100002600040245006900066260000900135300001300144362000800157520070400165650001800869650002100887700002400908700002000932773004500952180718b1999   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aSelden, Sally Coleman  aThe role of city managers: are they principals, agents, or both?  c1999  ap.124-48  aJun  aThis study uses a survey of 1,135 city managers to evaluate the contemporary city manager role and to evaluate its consistency with principal-agent theory. The findings are mixed. It appears that city councils can control city managers as principal-agent theory suggests, but that most city councils opt for less complex solutions involving trust and role sharing with the city manager. In other words, principal-agent theory does not fully explain the council-manager relationship. In an effort to understand this relationship more thoroughly, this study develops a typology of city manager roles based on the extent of their involvement in policy and the degree of autonomy exercised. - Reproduced  aCivil service  aLocal government  aBrudney, Jeffrey L.  aBrewer, Gene A.  aAmerican Review of Public Administration