People

Edwin Benton Picture

J. Edwin Benton

Professor

Contact

Home Campus: Tampa
Office: SOC 367
Telephone: (813) 974-5351
Email: jbenton@usf.edu

Office Hours: By appointment

Links
Bio

J. Edwin Benton is a Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, having received his Ph. D. from Florida State University in 1978.  He was previously at the University of Northern Iowa (1978-79) before coming to USF.  Professor Benton has written extensively about county government, state-local relations, urban government and politics, intergovernmental fiscal behavior, and city-county consolidation.  His articles have appeared in top-ranked academic journals such as Public Administration Review, Social Science Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review, Journal of Urban Affairs, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Public Opinion Quarterly, Public Budgeting & Finance, Journal of Public Administration Theory and Practice, State and Local Government Review, and American Review of Public Administration, while he has also written book chapters in numerous edited volumes.  His books include Intergovernmental Relations and Public Policy (with David R. Morgan and winner of the Aaron Wildavsky Award), Counties as Service Delivery Agents, Government and Politics in Florida (4th ed.), and Revenues Sources for Local Governments:  How Municipalities, Counties, Townships, Special Districts, and School Districts Pay the Bills (forthcoming).  In addition, he is the author or co-author of nearly 40 technical/grant reports/white papers for state and local governments, local government associations, and non-profit organizations, and in January 2009, he contributed to an Alliance for Innovation white paper (Navigating the Fiscal Crisis: Tested Strategies for Local Leaders) for the ICMA. 

Professionally, Dr. Benton has served on the editorial board of State and Local Government Review, American Review of Public Administration, and Florida Political Chronicle, and as an advisory board member of the National Center for the Study of Counties and as a Senior Fellow in the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government at the University of Central Florida.  Since 2011, he has been the Co-Editor of the academic journal, State and Local Government Review.  Most recently, Dr. Benton was given the Manning J. Dauer Award by the Florida Political Science Association for his sustained research contributions to scholarship on government and politics in Florida politics and the Service Award from the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management (SIAM).  In addition, he has served on committees or as an officer in many national, regional, and state political science and public administration associations while also reviewing countless journal and book manuscripts for a wide variety of academic journals and presses.

Since his arrival at USF, he has been appointed to a number of civic boards in Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa and testified before county, city, and state commissions (including committees in the Florida Legislature).  In addition, Dr. Benton has been a frequent commentator for local, state, national, and international news media outlets and most recently was quoted in articles appearing in USA Today, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.

Research

State and local government and politics, state-local and interlocal relations, county government, city-county consolidation, urban government and politics, local government finances, federal aid and intergovernmental fiscal behavior, education, welfare, and housing policy, and policy analysis and program evaluation