The Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government is an historic undertaking. It contains a wide range of essays that define the important questions in the field, evaluate where we are in answering them, and set the direction and terms of discourse for future work. The Handbook will have a substantial influence in defining the field for years to come. The chapters critically assess both the key works of state and local politics literature and the ways in which the sub-field has developed. It covers the main areas of study in subnational politics by exploring the central contributions to the comparative study of institutions, behavior, and policy in the American context. Each chapter outlines an agenda for future research.

The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot was the country's bloodiest civil disturbance of the century. Leaving perhaps 150 dead, 30 city blocks burned to the ground, and more than a thousand families homeless, the riot represented an unprecedented breakdown of the rule of law. It reduced the prosperous black community of Greenwood, Oklahoma, to rubble. In Reconstructing the Dreamland, Alfred Brophy draws on his own extensive research into contemporary accounts and court documents to chronicle this devastating riot, showing how and why the rule of law quickly eroded. Brophy offers a gut-wrenching portrait of mob violence and racism run amok, both on the night of the riot and the morning after, when a coordinated sunrise attack, accompanied by airplanes, stormed through Greenwood, torching and looting the community. Equally important, he shows how the city government and police not only permitted the looting, shootings, and burning of Greenwood, but actively participated in it. The police department, fearing that Greenwood was erupting into a "negro uprising" (which Brophy shows was not the case), deputized white citizens haphazardly, gave out guns and badges with little background check, or sent men to hardware stores to arm themselves. Likewise, the Tulsa-based units of the National Guard acted unconstitutionally, arresting every black resident they could find, leaving Greenwood property vulnerable to the white mob, special deputies, and police that followed behind and burned it. Brophy's revelations and stark narrative of the events of 1921 bring to life an incidence of racial violence that until recently lay mostly forgotten. Reconstructing the Dreamland concludes with a discussion of reparations for victims of the riot. That case has implications for other reparations movements, including reparations for slavery.

How are we to explain the resurgence of customary chiefs in contemporary Africa? Rather than disappearing with the tide of modernity, as many expected, indigenous sovereigns are instead a rising force, often wielding substantial power and legitimacy despite major changes in the workings of the global political economy in the post-Cold War era--changes in which they are themselves deeply implicated. This pathbreaking volume, edited by anthropologists John L. Comaroff and Jean Comaroff, explores the reasons behind the increasingly assertive politics of custom in many corners of Africa. Chiefs come in countless guises--from university professors through cosmopolitan businessmen to subsistence farmers-but, whatever else they do, they are a critical key to understanding the tenacious hold that "traditional" authority enjoys in the late modern world. Together the contributors explore this counterintuitive chapter in Africa's history and, in so doing, place it within the broader world-making processes of the twenty-first century.

Demokratie, die bis vor kurzem als selbstverstandliche Errungenschaft galt, wird gegenwartig massiv in Frage gestellt. Durch Modernisierungs- und Globalisierungsprozesse, oekonomische Krisen, rechtspopulistische Politikstrategien, Dynamiken der Diskriminierung und Exklusion, extremistische Einstellungen und terroristische Bedrohungen gerat Demokratie gegenwartig in eine Krise. Die Komplexitat dieser gesellschaftlichen Problemfelder analysieren die Autor_innen aus interdisziplinarer Perspektive. Wissenschaftler_innen aus verschiedenen wissenschaftlichen Arbeits- und Forschungsbereichen setzen sich mit der Krise der Demokratie, aber auch mit Moeglichkeiten ihrer Weiterentwicklung auseinander.

The book provides a pioneering overview of the evolution of the local government and urban policy in Cape Verde after independence, offering a multi-scale perspective of local governance in Cape Verde from 1970 - 2020. It examines the process of urban development in the country, and in the capital city in particular, and explores the consequences and challenges for spatial planning, housing, urban heritage, and the environment, namely issues related to climate change in the post-independence period.

Until recently, policy evaluation has mostly meant assessing whether government programs raise reading levels, decrease teen pregnancy rates, improve air quality levels, lower drunk-driving rates, or achieve any of the other goals that government programs are ostensibly created to do. Whether or not such programs also have consequences with respect to future demands for government action and whether government programs can heighten-or dampen-citizen involvement in civic activities are questions that are typically overlooked. This book applies such questions to local government. Employing policy feedback theory to a series of local government programs, Elaine B. Sharp shows that these programs do have consequences with respect to citizens' political participation. Unlike other feedback theory investigations, which tend to focus on federal government programs, Sharp's looks at a broad range of policy at the local level, including community policing programs, economic development for businesses, and neighborhood empowerment programs. With this clear-eyed analysis, Sharp finds that local governments' social program activities actually dampen participation of the have-nots, while cities' development programs reinforce the political involvement of already-privileged business interests. Meanwhile, iconic urban programs such as community policing and broader programs of neighborhood empowerment fail to enhance civic engagement or build social capital at the neighborhood level; at worst, they have the potential to deepen divisions-especially racial divisions-that undercut urban neighborhoods.

Lobbyismus ist in Deutschland kaum reguliert. Die Verbandeliste des Bundestags ist anerkanntermassen unzureichend. Auch die Offenlegungspflichten zu Parteispenden und Nebeneinkunften von Abgeordneten bringen kaum Transparenz in die Verflechtung von Politik und Wirtschaft. Intransparenz sowie eine zu grosse Nahe zwischen Interessenvertretern und Politikern schaden aber dem Vertrauen in die Gemeinwohlorientierung der Politik. Der Autor bewertet Nutzen und Gefahren des Lobbyismus und uberpruft anhand dieser Kategorien die Regulierungsmassnahmen der USA und der EU. Auf Grundlage des Rechtsvergleichs sowie unter Berucksichtigung der Vorgaben des Grundgesetzes untersucht der Autor moegliche Regulierungsinstrumente wie etwa ein verpflichtendes Lobbyregister oder den legislativen Fussabdruck.

Verschiedene europaische Richtlinien verpflichten Unternehmer, Anbieter und Versicherer, ihre Kunden vor Vertragsschluss uber das auf den Vertrag objektiv anwendbare Recht oder uber eine in den AGB enthaltene Rechtswahlklausel zu informieren. Der Autor setzt sich umfassend mit diesen kollisionsrechtsbezogenen Informationspflichten auseinander. Er zeigt nicht nur den Bestand der Informationspflichten auf, sondern setzt diese in einen kollisionsrechtlichen Kontext. Das Buch untersucht zudem den notwendigen Inhalt und den Umfang der Informationspflichten sowie die Rechtsfolgen bei deren Verletzung und beleuchtet das Verhaltnis der Informationspflichten zu Rechtswahlklauseln in AGB.

In the years following its near-bankruptcy in 1976 until the end of the 1980s, New York City came to epitomize the debt-driven, deal-oriented, economic boom of the Reagan era. Exploring the interplay between social structural change and political power during this period, John Mollenkopf asks why a city with a large minority population and a long tradition of liberalism elected a conservative mayor who promoted real-estate development and belittled minority activists. Through a careful analysis of voting patterns, political strategies of various interest groups, and policy trends, he explains how Mayor Edward Koch created a powerful political coalition and why it ultimately failed.

Over the past thirty-five years, Canada's provinces and territories have undergone significant political changes. Abandoning mid-century Keynesian policies, governments of all political persuasions have turned to deregulation, tax reduction, and government downsizing as policy solutions for a wide range of social and economic issues. Transforming Provincial Politics is the first province-by-province analysis of politics and political economy in more than a decade, and the first to directly examine the turn to neoliberal policies at the provincial and territorial level. Featuring chapters written by experts in the politics of each province and territory, Transforming Provincial Politics examines how neoliberal policies have affected politics in each jurisdiction. A comprehensive and accessible analysis of the issues involved, this collection will be welcomed by scholars, instructors, and anyone interested in the state of provincial politics today.

Bowman/Kearney's STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT, THE ESSENTIALS, SIXTH EDITION takes a positive look at state and local government, in a shorter and more streamlined approach than its full-length counterpart (State and Local Government 9781435462687). It espouses clearly and succinctly that government can be a force for good in society, while addressing critics simultaneously. Through engaging coverage of current events and an accessible writing style, the text fosters interest and involvement in state and local politics, policy, and public service.

Many developing countries have a history of highly centralized governments. Since the late 1980s, a large number of these governments have introduced decentralization to increase democracy and improve services, especially in small communities far from capital cities. In "Going Local," an unprecedented study of the effects of decentralization on thirty Mexican municipalities, Merilee Grindle describes how local governments respond when they are assigned new responsibilities and resources under decentralization policies. She explains why decentralization leads to better local governments in some cases--and why it fails to in others.

Combining quantitative and qualitative methods, Grindle examines data based on a random sample of Mexican municipalities--and ventures into town halls to follow public officials as they seek to manage a variety of tasks amid conflicting pressures and new expectations. Decentralization, she discovers, is a double-edged sword. While it allows public leaders to make significant reforms quickly, institutional weaknesses undermine the durability of change, and legacies of the past continue to affect how public problems are addressed. Citizens participate, but they are more successful at extracting resources from government than in holding local officials and agencies accountable for their actions. The benefits of decentralization regularly predicted by economists, political scientists, and management specialists are not inevitable, she argues. Rather, they are strongly influenced by the quality of local leadership and politics.

The first textbook to explain the full range of operations in Welsh governance and politics for AS, A2 and undergraduate studentsThis new textbook explains Welsh devolution through the use of case studies, critical analysis and clear explanations of processes and terms. As the Welsh Assembly moves towards becoming a Welsh Parliament and the Welsh Government fashions a Welsh policy agenda, distinct from Westminster, students of British politics will learn how Welsh politics works in practice and how it is evolving.Key featuresSpecially written by teachers and lecturers for students of Welsh government and politics on AS, A2 and undergraduate courses10 case studies illuminate the nature and analysis of Welsh politicsDetailed, critical analysis of the National Assembly and the law-making process explains how laws are made in Wales, which is different from the rest of the UK Divided into short, easy-to read sub-sections, with worked examples and analysis tailored to student needsIncludes a glossary of key terms that are essential to understanding Welsh government and politics but are hard to find in a Welsh context

This book presents international experiences in urban network learning. It is vital for cities to learn as it is necessary to constantly adapt and improve public performance and address complex challenges in a constantly changing environment. It is therefore highly relevant to gain more insight into how cities can learn. Cities address problems and challenges in networks of co-operation between existing and new actors, such as state actors, market players and civil society. This book presents various learning environments and methods for urban network learning, and aims to learn from experiences across the globe. How does learning take place in these urban networks? What factors and situations help or hinder these learning practices? Can we move from intuition to a strategy to improve urban network learning?

As a 1950s housewife and League of Women Voters volunteer who spearheaded the city of Lincoln’s switch to a “strong mayor� form of government, Helen Boosalis (1919–2009) never anticipated that she herself would one day be that strong mayor and chief executive of Nebraska’s capital city. Helen Boosalis’s story, told by her daughter, Beth Boosalis Davis, is that of a true pioneer of women in politics. The daughter of Greek immigrants, Boosalis achieved national prominence as the first woman president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and as an outspoken advocate for economically distressed cities facing President Reagan’s “new federalism.� Winning the Democratic nomination for governor of Nebraska in 1986, Helen Boosalis ran against Kay Orr in the first gubernatorial contest between two women in U.S. history. The interwoven tales of conflict and challenge, from the mayor’s office to the campaign trail, combine personal insight into one woman’s trailblazing political history with a compelling memoir of a half century of public service and private devotion  shared by two remarkable women, mother and daughter.

World Cities and Nation States takes a global perspective to show how national governments and states/provinces/regions continue to play a decisive, and often positive, partnership role with world cities. The 16 chapter book comprised of two introductory chapters, 12 central chapters that draw on case studies, and two summary chapters - draws on over 40 interviews with national ministers, city government officials, business leaders and expert academics.

Dieses Buch widmet sich der Untersuchung von Zusammenhangen zwischen gesellschaftlichen Transformationsprozessen, einer veranderten Kriminalpolitik und der medialen Kriminalitatsberichterstattung am Beispiel der nachtraglichen Sicherungsverwahrung. Der Autor beschreibt die soziologische Analyse der Sicherheitsgesellschaft und analysiert das Gesetzgebungsverfahren zu 66b StGB a.F. sowie die begleitende mediale Berichterstattung. Er zieht den Schluss, dass die Sicherungsverwahrung Ausdruck eines neuen Sicherheitsstrafrechts ist, das sich vor dem Hintergrund eines gesellschaftlichen Transformationsprozesses entwickelt und zunehmend zur Loesung gesellschaftlicher Probleme eingesetzt wird. Er sieht die Sicherheitsverwahrung zudem als Symptom populistischer Kriminalpolitik und als Ergebnis des medialen Ausdrucks von Kriminalitatsangsten.

The A Practical Approach series is the perfect partner for practice work. Each title focuses on one field of the law and provides a comprehensive overview of the subject together with clear, practical advice and tips on issues likely to arise in practice. The books are also an excellent resource for those new to the law, where the expert overview and clear layout promotes clarity and ease of understanding. This second edition of A Practical Approach to Local Government Law provides comprehensive coverage of the rull range of law and legislation relating to local government and local authorities. Since the first edition published in 1997, there have been significant legislative changes in the field of local government, including the enactment of the Local Government Act 2003 and the new Capital Finance Rules brought into force in April 2004. This new edition takes these changes fully into account, and covers the increasingly key areas of; partnerships and joint ventures; procurement; freedom of information; wellbeing; best value; and human rights. Very much a practical guide, A Practical Approach to Local Government Law 2/e makes extensive use of examples, checklists, and key documents, to assist the busy practitioner in quickly locating the material they need, whilst also providing valuable context for the student coming to this complex subject for the first time.

Over the past forty years, conservatives have mastered the art of pursuing policy change across the states, while similar liberal efforts have floundered. Using a diverse array of original evidence, including interviews, previously-unexamined archival records, and new surveys, State Capture explains why and how conservatives developed cross-state political clout while progressives did not. The book also carefully documents the implications of conservative cross-state network-building for American democracy, spelling out its consequences for political inequality and representation, as well as for our understanding of the relationship between private-sector businesses, political activists, and wealthy donors. In State Capture, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez details the development of a trio of conservative groups operating within and outside of state legislatures responsible for the right's success in the states. This right-leaning "troika" includes the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which brings together state legislators, conservative activists, and businesses to draft model legislation for the states; the free-market think-tanks operating as part of the State Policy Network (SPN), which together offer research and commentary in support of the policies ALEC develops; and Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a federated grassroots advocacy group with millions of volunteers and a hefty campaign warchest dedicated to pressing state governments to adopt conservative legislation, including ALEC model bills. Following the histories of each group across their victories but also their missteps, the book sheds light on broader themes in American political development and helps us to better understand longstanding issues about how businesses shape policy and politics. A timely and accessible book that tackles important long-term shifts in American politics, State Capture is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the intersection between private power and democracy.

The lasting effects of slavery on contemporary political attitudes in the American South Despite dramatic social transformations in the United States during the last 150 years, the South has remained staunchly conservative. Southerners are more likely to support Republican candidates, gun rights, and the death penalty, and southern whites harbor higher levels of racial resentment than whites in other parts of the country. Why haven't these sentiments evolved? Deep Roots shows that the entrenched views of white southerners are a direct consequence of the region's slaveholding history. Today, southern whites who live in areas once reliant on slavery-compared to areas that were not-are more racially hostile and less amenable to policies that could promote black progress. A groundbreaking look at the ways institutions of the past continue to sway attitudes of the present, Deep Roots demonstrates how social beliefs persist long after the formal policies that created those beliefs have been eradicated.

Bargaining between states in the international system is governed by rules which shape and constrain their bargaining behavior. However, these rules can be changed. When, why, and how do states bargain differently? Drawing on original qualitative and quantitative evidence, this book demonstrates how the rules of the game influence the cooperative or coercive nature of the strategies adopted by all states in a negotiation. These effects influence each state's incentives regarding whether to play by the rules or to change them. Examining these incentives, as well as the conditions under which states can act on them, McKibben explains the wide variation in states' bargaining strategies. Several bargaining interactions are analyzed, including decision-making in the European Union, multilateral trade negotiations, climate change negotiations, and negotiations over the future status of Kosovo. This book provides a rich understanding of the nuances of states' behavior in international bargaining processes.

Rejecting the notion that policy analysis and planning are value-free technical endeavors, an argumentative approach takes into account the ways that policy is affected by other factors, including culture, discourse, and emotion. The contributors to this new collection consider how far argumentative policy analysis has come during the past two decades and how its theories continue to be refined through engagement with current thinking in social theory and with the real-life challenges facing contemporary policy makers.

The approach speaks in particular to the limits of rationalistic, technoscientific policy making in the complex, unpredictable world of the early twenty-first century. These limits have been starkly illustrated by responses to events such as the environmental crisis, the near collapse of the world economy, and the disaster at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. Addressing topics including deliberative democracy, collaborative planning, new media, rhetoric, policy frames, and transformative learning, the essays shed new light on the ways that policy is communicatively created, conveyed, understood, and implemented. Taken together, they show argumentative policy inquiry to be an urgently needed approach to policy analysis and planning.

Contributors. Giovanni Attili, Hubertus Buchstein, Stephen Coleman, John S. Dryzek, Frank Fischer, Herbert Gottweis, Steven Griggs, Mary Hawkesworth, Patsy Healey, Carolyn M. Hendriks, David Howarth, Dirk Jorke, Alan Mandell, Leonie Sandercock, Vivien A. Schmidt, Sanford F. Schram