美國的地方政府最貼近民眾，所以也是最能靈敏反映民意的政府形態(tài)。地方/市級政府的目標是滿足市民最普遍、最基本的需求，如醫(yī)療、安全和基建等，因此更能激發(fā)民眾的親近感。除此之外，相對于州政府官員以及聯(lián)邦官員而言，民眾更能夠在日常程序中影響由他們選出的、代表他們利益的地方政府官員。鑒于這種特性，本課程將研究美國地方政府的結(jié)構(gòu)，包括其提供的各種政府服務(wù)、共同的組織框架和總體治理理念（詳細列舉民選和受任命官員的角色和責任）。作為學(xué)生的研究設(shè)計要求，他們將在指導(dǎo)下選擇性地分析一系列美國地方政府網(wǎng)站內(nèi)容并將各自的研究心得作為課堂交流和展示的基礎(chǔ)。通過這門課程，學(xué)生將：（1）熟悉地方政府組織架構(gòu)；（2）了解公共部門的各專業(yè)領(lǐng)域；（3）分清民選和受任命的地方政府官員的不同角色和職責。

Course Description: Local government in the United States is considered the most responsive of all forms because it is closest to the people it serves.  Citizens feel most connected to their municipal/city government because it is designed to meet their most common, basic needs – health, safety, infrastructure, etc.  In addition, citizens have the ability to routinely interact with the elected officials who represent them.  They do not have this same opportunity with state and federal officials.  We will examine the makeup of local government operations in the US including the various services that are provided, common organizational structures, and general governance that outlines the roles and responsibilities of the various elected and appointed officials.  Students will be asked to review various local government websites from cities in the US as part of their research throughout the course.  Research findings will be discussed in class and will also be the basis for presentations that will be shared with the group.Upon completion of the course, students will be able to: a..Understand the structure of local government organizations; b. .Recognize the areas of specialization within the public sector; and C. Discern the different roles and responsibilities of various elected and appointed government officials.

主講老師：詹姆士·尼科爾斯(James Nichols）

詹姆士·尼科爾斯現(xiàn)任內(nèi)華達州道格拉斯縣的市政官，之前擔任過拉斯維加斯市等地的市政官職務(wù)，具有15年以上的地方政府管理經(jīng)驗。他的專業(yè)領(lǐng)域包括公共事業(yè)、市政工程、公共安全、社區(qū)服務(wù)、公園與休憩事業(yè)、開發(fā)審批程序、績效管理等。 尼科爾斯取得了東北大學(xué)的土木工程本科學(xué)位（1989年）和康涅狄克大學(xué)的環(huán)境工程碩士學(xué)位（1994年）。 他還獲得了國際城市管理協(xié)會的市政官認證資格，亞利桑那州、內(nèi)華達州和華盛頓州的注冊專業(yè)工程師資格，以及“全美工程和科技委員會”主席等專業(yè)協(xié)會頭街。尼克爾斯曾在華盛頓首首府奧林匹亞市建立并教授《美國社區(qū)治理》的學(xué)位課程。

James Nichols is currently serving as the County Manager of Douglas County. He previously acted as city managers in other places including Las Vegas and he possesses more than 15 years executive experience in local government. His expertise expands to public works, engineering, public safety, community services, parks and recreation, development review processes, performance management and CIP’s. James Nichols received his undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Northeastern University in 1989 and master of science in environmental engineering from University of Connecticut in 1994. He also earned the designation of Credentialed Manager from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) as well as being a licensed Professional Engineer in Arizona, Nevada, and Washington.  He serves on many public works professional associations such as the chairmanship for National Engineering and Technology Committee.He taught the course of Community Governance in US Cities in Olympia city of Washington State.

課程大綱：

美國地方治理實踐 Local Government Operations in the US.pdf