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WSW: "The Rules of the Game" for City Elections

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When Kalamazoo voters head to the polls next week, the ballot will look a little different than it did two years ago. 

That’s because there will be a separate election of the mayor under city charter changes approved by voters last year. Six city commissioners will also be elected on Tuesday. Western Michigan University Political Science Professor Susan Hoffman studies urban politics. She previously worked for the city of Cleveland and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Hoffman says the form of city government used to be determined by the size of the city. But she says increasingly the Commission-Manager form of government, used in Kalamazoo, has become more common.

The Commission Manager form of city government is similar to the governance arrangement for a large corporation, according to Hoffman. The City Manager is responsible for the day to day management of the city and answers to the city commission or city council. 

susanhoffman101415-web.mp3
Susan Hoffman - web version

Another change approved last year in Kalamazoo expands the city commission terms to four years. Eventually three commission seats will be up every two years. Hoffman says four year staggered terms for a city council or commission ensures some continuity. At least some commissioners will remain after every election.

More cities are using direct election of the mayor, even though they have a city manager running day to day operations. Hoffman says research has found that citizens accept the legitimacy of a mayor elected separately, even though the duties of the mayor aren’t any different.

Historically, wards were more common in city government. They are similar to districts used for Congress and the state Legislature. Battle Creek’s system still includes five commissioners representing wards, and four elected at-large. Hoffman says a reform movement started in the late 19th and early 20th century to address corruption in city government. One answer was to hold elections “at-large,” rather than having a ward system. Hoffman says at large elections diminished the power of ethnic groups concentrated in some city neighborhoods.

Determining how much influence the election format has on results is a running debate among political scientists, according to Hoffman. She says institutions or the “rules of the game” do matter. Hoffman says researchers have found that tweaking the format to include direct election of the mayor has helped preserve the commission-manager form of government.

Gordon Evans became WMUK's Content Director in 2019 after more than 20 years as an anchor, host and reporter. A 1990 graduate of Michigan State, he began work at WMUK in 1996.
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