George A. Codding, Jr., Governing the Commune of Veyrier: Politics in Swiss Local Government, 1967.

Foreword

In 1947 Professor Robert A. Dahl stated that the comparative study of public administration had been ignored. In response, various groups and individual scholars have engaged in comparative administration research. Closely aligned with this movement has been an increased interest in urban issues and problems on a comparative basis. The Committee on Urbanization of the Social Science Research Council, for example, recently urged the preparation of more historical and comparative studies of the processes and consequences of urbanization. It is apparent that comparative analyses of urban politics and administration are valuable contributions to the study of comparative public administration as a whole. Underlying almost all of the comparative research to date is a commitment to expose both students and practitioners to urban problems and, hopefully, to set forth adequate solutions to them.

It is with pleasure that the Bureau of Governmental Research and Service of the University of Colorado is able to publish the first in a series of publications dealing with comparative public administration. The author, Professor George A. Codding, Jr., is on the faculty of the Department of Political Science at the University of Colorado. He has written many books and has spent considerable research time in Switzerland. This book focuses, intentionally, on a small Swiss local government and presents and illustrates issues and problems of a small government, which should benefit the student of comparative urban affairs. The findings presented by Professor Codding should appeal to students of comparative public administration and comparative government and politics, area specialists, and other political scientists.

The Bureau of Governmental Research and Service is maintained by the University of Colorado for the study of governmental issues. The findings, views, and any omissions are the sole responsibility of the author.

John C. Buechner Director