JOHN CLAYTON THOMAS is professor and director of the School of Public Administration and Urban Studies at Georgia State University. He has held leadership posts in several urban affairs and public administration organizations: he served as president of the Urban Affairs Association from 1990—1992 and was program co-chair for the 1994 National Conference of the American Society for Public Administration. He is the author of Between Citizen and City (1986), and Big City Politics in Transition (1991).