Managing Across Local Government Boundaries

The articles in this symposium on local government management are connected by the common theme of working across boundaries. As all the authors point out, this is not a new phenomonen for local governments. What is new is the current pace and reach of collaborations across local government jurisdictions, as well as the richness of thought emanating from local government managers who work hard to make wise cross-border decisions. In 2012, O'Leary and Gerard (2013) surveyed local government managers in the United States inviting them to share their thoughts about their experiences working across boundaries. We end this symposium with a glimpse at the ideas conveyed by the local government managers who responded, with the goal of catalyzing future research on managing across local government boundaries. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright holder.]