Lean and mean: an assessment of contract cities

Ever since the colonial era, the US government has been influenced by a market-orientated intellectual tradition. Under such a tradition, an ideal social structure is a lean government in contrast to a robust private sector. The recent surge of neoliberalism has advanced the development of a market model of governance, which distinguishes itself from the traditional state-centered bureaucracy in fundamental dimensions. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the contract city, which has pursued many of the market principles to an extreme. The article traces the evolution of contract cities in California, examines closely the structure, operation, and management of contract city using the City of Highland as an example, and discusses the implications of this new form of governance for public management, organizational theory, and American political economy.