Lyndon State and Vermont Authors Contribute to Russian Book on City Governance
Lyndon State and Vermont Authors Contribute to Russian Book on City Governance
LSC AUTHORS CONTRIBUTE TO RUSSIAN BOOK ON GOVERNANCE
October 27, 2011
Lyndon State College Professor of Social Science and History Alexandre Strokanov has announced the publication of “Power and Management in the Contemporary Russian City,” by the publishing house of Russia’s Perm National Research Polytechnic University.
The 450-page book opens with a special chapter devoted to the analysis of local self-government in the U.S. from a distinctly Vermont perspective. The chapter’s authors include four members of the Lyndon community and has six articles about our state’s governance:
“Municipal Management in Vermont: Basic Principles and Legal Foundations,” coauthored by former Vermont Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz and Alexandre Strokanov, professor of History, chair of Social Sciences department, and director of the Institute of Russian Language, History and Culture at Lyndon State College. This article describes major principals and elements of municipal management in Vermont. It provides an overview of the laws that generally govern and limit municipal authority as well as those rules that govern the relationships of municipal officials to each other and which guarantee accountability to the public.
“Vershire: Small Scale Democracy,” by Margaret H. Darrow, professor of History and chair of the History Department at Dartmouth College, describes how a town of only 600 residents is governed and managed-and the role played by all the town’s citizens.
“Municipal Management in the United States: Case Study of Saint Johnsbury, Vermont,” was contributed by Alexandre Strokanov. His article describes an example of government and management in a medium size town, such as Saint Johnsbury. It explains the role of the town manager, members of selectboard, and other town officials. The article also many aspects of local financing and taxation.
The article “Town Meetings in Vermont,” by David Plazek, assistant professor of Political Science, Lyndon State College, is a comparative discussion of Greek and Vermont town meetings with an emphasis on the conditions that make this type of political institution practical and viable.
“How Vermont Schools are Managed,” by Mariann Bertolini, director of Northeast Kingdom School Development Center at LSC, focuses on the governance structure of Vermont schools from the legislative process to the implementation of local school board policy. It presents the fiscal challenges of administrators in providing quality programs in a sparsely populated region with limited resources. Her article also emphasizes rewards for educators who teach Vermont children.
“An Alternative Criminal Corrections Procedure: A Vermont Community Justice Program at St. Johnsbury. Introduction and Overview of Restorative Versus Retributive Justice,” was contributed by Jon Fitch, retired professor of Psychology at Lyndon State College. Jon offers a description of how a small town has widened representation from the entire community in restoring equilibrium for victims, citizens, and the accused, in lieu of imprisonment.
Alexandre Strokanov was a member of the three-person editorial board responsible for the publication-which is printed in Russian only. Other members were Viktor Mokhov, Russia, and Emil Markwart, Germany. The book is fruit born of the collaboration between the Institute of Russian language, History, and Culture at Lyndon State College, and the Perm National Research Polytechnic University.