Excerpted from the final report for a pilot study on conflict management, this paper gives a theoretical overview of the role of conflict in educational and municipal governance and offers two in-depth analyses that illustrate the theories presented. The authors' comparative study of the behavior of superintendents and city managers suggested that city managers are more effective handlers of conflict. Possible explanations for the city managers' greater effectiveness include the superintendents' high level of professionalism and consequent unwillingness to bargain, environmental conditions, service delivery characteristics of the community, and the role of interest groups. Stephen Bailey's typology of conflict as subordinate, superordinate, or lateral forms the framework for the theoretical discussion. (WD)