Budgeting for Local Governments and Communities is designed as the primary textbook for a quarter or semester-long course in public budgeting and finance in an MPA programme. Many currently available texts for this course suffer from a combination of defects that include a focus on federal and state budgeting, a lack of a theoretical governance framework, an omission of important topics, and typically a lack of exercises and datasets for student use. Budgeting for Local Governments and Communities solves all of these problems. The book is exceptionally comprehensive and well written, and represents the efforts of veteran authors with both teaching and real-world experience. Key Features: Special Focus on Local Government Budgeting: focuses exclusively on budgeting at the local levels of American government, which are responsible for spending 40 percent of the taxes collected from citizens. Integration of Theory and Practice: teaching cases and chapters capture the "lessons learned" by professional practitioners who have extensive experience in making local public budgeting work on the ground.< /li> Polity Approach to Local Budgeting: presents an introduction to local budgeting as the central political activity that integrates the resources of the community into a unified whole. Budgeting is presented as governance work, rather than as a unique set of skills possessed by analysts and financial specialists. Legal, Historical, Economic and Moral Foundations of Local Government Budgeting: provides readers with an understanding of how the structures and processes of local budgeting systems are firmly tethered to the underlying core values, legal principles and historical development of the larger American federal, state and local political systems. Electronic Datasets and Budgeting Exercises: the text includes access to extensive electronic datasets and practice exercises that provide abundant opportunities for students to "learn through doing." Extensive Glossary and Bibliography: covers terms on the history and practice of local public budgeting.

While the gambling industry is indisputably large and powerful, it has received little attention from political scientists. Utilizing a variety of perspectives and techniques, von Herrmann analyzes gambling's recent expansion, finding public attitudes have been shaped both by government policies and the industry's attempts to create a family-friendly image.

Von Herrmann examines the politics of state and federal gambling policy, particularly policies relating to casinos and state lotteries. She considers gambling policy from a variety of perspectives, including the politics of adoption, the state and federal governments' role in policy formation and implementation, and the broad economic and social impact questions related to gambling. The inclusion of several state case studies provides insight into the largely successful reshaping of Americans' image of gambling--from seedy, sinful, and corrupt behavior to a benign, pleasurable entertainment experience--which ultimately has led to widespread availability.

While many have asserted that gambling policy fits well within the political models of morality politics, von Herrmann challenges this notion. Noting that true consensus has not been achieved in the area of gambling policy, she shows how supporters' economic arguments and opponents' moral concerns have effectively bifurcated the current debates on gambling policy; gambling is now viewed by many in two distinct and separate bodies of thought. As she observes, the challenge for the future of gambling policy is to find ways to bridge the gap. Of particular interest to scholars, students, and other researchers involved with public policy, particularly that relating to gambling.

A study in the project The Status and Condition of the Arabs in Israel under the direction of Professor Henry Rosenfeld. In this book the authors present a historical analysis of local authorities in Arab communities prior to and since the establishment of the state of Israel. They discuss the workings of Arab local councils, municipalities, and national political groupings as well as the circumstances of internal conflicts in Arab settlements. They also present comparative data on budgets in Jewish and Arab communities.

This volume brings together for the first time a significant body of Professor Barnes' scholarly writing on Japanese early state formation, brought together so that successive topics form a coherent overview of the problems and solutions of ancient Japan. The writings are, in some cases, the only studies of these topics available in English and they differ from the majority of other articles on the subject in being anthropological rather than cultural or historical in nature.

This book explores cities and the intra-regional relational dynamics often overlooked by urban scholars, and it challenges common representations of urban development successes and failures. Gathering leading international scholars from Europe, Australia and North America, it explores the secondary city concept in urban development theory and practice and advances a research agenda that highlights uneven development concerns. By emphasising the subordinate status of secondary cities relative to their dominant neighbours the book raises new questions about regional development in the Global North. It considers alternative relations and development strategies that innovatively reimagine the subordinate status of secondary cities and showcase their full potential.

The half-century before the Civil War was beset with conflict over equality as well as freedom. Beginning in 1803, many free states enacted laws that discouraged free African Americans from settling within their boundaries and restricted their rights to testify in court, move freely from place to place, work, vote, and attend public school. But over time, African American activists and their white allies, often facing mob violence, courageously built a movement to fight these racist laws. They countered the states' insistences that states were merely trying to maintain the domestic peace with the equal-rights promises they found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They were pastors, editors, lawyers, politicians, ship captains, and countless ordinary men and women, and they fought in the press, the courts, the state legislatures, and Congress, through petitioning, lobbying, party politics, and elections. Long stymied by hostile white majorities and unfavorable court decisions, the movement's ideals became increasingly mainstream in the 1850s, particularly among supporters of the new Republican party. When Congress began rebuilding the nation after the Civil War, Republicans installed this vision of racial equality in the 1866 Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment. These were the landmark achievements of the first civil rights movement. Kate Masur's magisterial history delivers this pathbreaking movement in vivid detail. Activists such as John Jones, a free Black tailor from North Carolina whose opposition to the Illinois "black laws" helped make the case for racial equality, demonstrate the indispensable role of African Americans in shaping the American ideal of equality before the law. Without enforcement, promises of legal equality were not enough. But the antebellum movement laid the foundation for a racial justice tradition that remains vital to this day.

This new study examines the relationship between two key issues in the on-going debate on urban governance- leadership and community involvement.
This book explores the nature of the interaction between community involvement and political leadership in modern local governance. Drawing on empirical data gathered from case-studies concerning cities in England, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, and Sweden, the analysis offers both a country specific and cross-cutting analysis of the contributions that communities and leaders can make to more effective local governance. These country specific chapters are complemented by thematic, comparative chapters addressing alternative forms of community involvement, types and styles of leadership, multi-level governance, institutional restrictions and opportunities for leadership and involvement, institutional conditions underpinning leadership and involvement, and political culture in cities. This up-to-date survey of trendsand developments in local governance moves the debate forward by analyzing modern governance with reference to theories related to institutional theory, legitimation, and the way urban leadership and community involvement compliment one another.
This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of politics and urban governance, and to all those concerned with questions of local governance and democracy.

Recognizing the pivotal role that local governments play in the high-tech economy, this book examines the effect of technology industries and infrastructures on cities and the local policy actions required for effective response to these challenges. Filled with fresh information and practical advice, "Cities in the Technology Economy" provides a thorough coverage of the technology economy with respect to cities and economic development, focusing on the attraction of technology industries and investment in technology infrastructure. The author utilizes a triangualtion of approaches - national level data, nationwide survey of local officials, and case studies - to examine what cities are doing in the technology economy, describe the barriers to participation in the technology economy, and detail entrepreneurial actions of local governments to traverse these hurdles. All of the research points to the need for a strong local role enabling local policy action and activities to shape a technology economy response.

Are claims of Massachusetts's special and instructive place in American history and politics justified? Alternately described as a "city upon a hill" and "an organized system of hatreds," Massachusetts politics has indisputably exerted an outsized pull on the national stage. The Commonwealth's leaders often argue for the state's distinct position within the union, citing its proud abolitionist history and its status as a policy leader on health care, gay marriage, and transgender rights, not to mention its fertile soil for budding national politicians. Detractors point to the state's busing crisis, sky high levels of economic inequality, and mixed support for undocumented immigrants.The Politics of Massachusetts Exceptionalism tackles these tensions, offering a collection of essays from public policy experts that address the state's noteworthy contributions to the nation's political history. This is a much-needed volume for Massachusetts policymakers, journalists, and community leaders, as well as those learning about political power at the state level, inside and outside of the classroom. Contributors include the editors as well as Maurice T. Cunningham, Lawrence Friedman, Shannon Jenkins, Luis F. Jimenez, and Peter Ubertaccio.

This is a major survey of how towns were governed in late Stuart and early Hanoverian England. A new kind of politics emerged out of England's Civil War: partisan politics. This happened first in the corporations governing the towns, and not at Parliament as is usually argued. Based on an examination of the records of scores of corporations, this book explains how war unleashed a cycle of purge and counter-purge which continued for decades. It also explains how a society that feared a system of politics based on division found the means to absorb it peacefully. As conflict sharpened in communities everywhere, local competitors turned to the court of King's Bench to resolve their differences. In doing so, they prompted the court to develop a new body of law that protected local governments from the divisive impulses within them.

In 1998, Myron Orfield introduced a revolutionary program for combating the seemingly inevitable decline of America's metropolitan communities. Through a combination of demographic research, state-of-the-art mapping, and resourceful, pragmatic politics, his groundbreaking book, Metropolitics, revealed how the different regions of St. Paul and Minneapolis pulled together to create a regional government powerful enough to tackle the community's problems of sprawl and urban decay. Orfield's new work, American Metropolitics , applies the next generation of cutting-edge research on a much broader scale. The book provides an eye-opening analysis of the economic, racial, environmental, and political trends of the 25 largest metropolitan regions in the United States -which contain more than 45 percent of the U.S. population. Using detailed maps and case studies, Orfield demonstrates that growing social separation and wasteful sprawling development patterns are harming regional citizens wherever they live. The first section of the book, ""Metropatterns,"" illustrates a common pattern of growing social separation and wasteful sprawling development throughout the country -a condition that limits opportunity for the poor (particularly people of color), diminishes the quality of life for most Americans, and threatens our fragile environment. It also shows how these patterns reveal the existence of three types of suburban communities -those at risk of social and economic decline, those struggling to pay for rapid growth, and a very small number of places that enjoy the benefits of economic growth with few social costs. Ironically, this last group is often the center of the movement against sprawl. ""Metropolicy,"" the second section, analyzes past policies and programs that have attempted -and failed -to address the challenges of concentrated poverty, sprawl, and inequitable distribution of resources. Orfield lays out a comprehensive regional agenda to address these problems, with solutions for land use planning from a regional perspective, greater fiscal equity among local governments (with an emphasis on reinvestment in the central cities and older suburbs), and improved governance at the regional level that will help facilitate the development of policies to benefit all types of metropolitan communities. The third section, ""Metropolitics,"" discusses examples of political strategies that have led to successful programs on land use planning, tax equity, and regional governance. Using detailed analysis of 1990's election data it identifies and maps the nation's swing political jurisdictions which are overwhelmingly in at-risk and growth-stressed suburbs. Finally, the book draws a new and incisive picture of the political structure of U.S. metropolitan regions, and lays out a series of strategies for moving regional reform efforts forward. With detailed maps of conditions in each metropolitan region, comprehensive data on existing conditions and voter attitudes, and bold, innovative strategies for change, Am erican Metropolitics i s an important book for anyone concerned with the future of our cities and suburbs.

As we move further into the 21st century, the prominence of regions can no longer be taken for granted. A certain skepticism has developed with regard to the feasibility of marginal regions achieving self-sustained growth and states have maintained their role as regulators of economic and social activities. Thus, the notion of the region and its significance is currently much debated and contested. Illustrated with a wide range of European case studies, this volume brings together the main strands of these contestations, as economic, political and social actors attempt to institutionalise their vision of their region as the dominant form of territorial governance. It questions both the external delimitation and the internal constitution of regions and critically analyses the societal processes circumscribing ways in which regions are created, maintained and undermined. The volume provides a wide range of analytical perspectives to enable an understanding of the current mosaic of regionalism in Europe.

In defence of councillors is an unashamed defence of local representative democracy and of those elected to serve as councillors from the often ill-informed, ill-judged and inaccurate criticism made by the media, government and public, of councillors' personal, political and professional roles. By using qualitative research from a number of related projects, the book examines the roles, functions and responsibilities of councillors and the expectations placed upon them by citizens, communities and government. It also examines the impact council membership has on other facets of the councillor's life. The book examines how councillors develop strategies to overcome the constraints and restrictions on their office so as to be able to govern their communities, balance their political and public life and democratise and hold to account a vast array of unelected bodies that spend public money and develop public policy without the electoral mandate and legitimacy held by our councillors. -- .

America s cities can be saved so says Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith. As the mayor of America s twelfth largest city, he eliminated city deficits, cut the city payroll, enhanced services, rebuilt infrastructure, revitalized neighborhoods, and reduced crime. And he did it all while cutting taxes Now, in The Twenty-First Century City, Goldsmith shows how he did it. The Twenty-First Century City gives a hopeful glimpse of the city of the future a city where less bureaucratic intervention means lower costs, safer streets, and better services. Mayor Goldsmith has proved that by using this new philosophy of urban governance of government acting as a business and perceiving its citizens as customers America s cities can once again buzz with the sounds of success.

Urban governance and sustainability are rapidly becoming key issues around the world. Currently three billion people - half the population of the planet - live in cities, and by 2050 a full two-thirds of the world's population will be housed in ever larger and increasingly densely populated urban areas. The economic, social and environmental challenges posed by urbanization on such a large scale and at such a rapid pace are staggering for local, regional and national governments working towards sustainability. Solutions to the myriad problems plaguing the quest for sustainability at the city-level are equally as diverse and complex, but are rooted in the assumptions of the 'sustainability agenda', developed at the Rio Earth Summit and embodied in Local Agenda/Action 21. These assumptions state that good governance is a necessary precondition for the achievement of sustainable development, particularly at the local level, and that the mobilization of local communities is an essential part of this process. Yet until now, these assumptions, which have guided the policies and programmes of over 6000 local authorities around the world, have never been seriously tested. Drawing on three years of field research in 40 European towns and cities, Governing for Sustainable Cities is the first book to examine empirically the processes of urban governance in sustainable development. Looking at a host of core issues including institutional and social capacity, institutional design, social equity, politics, partnerships and cooperation and creative policy-making, the authors draw compelling conclusions and offer strong guidance. This book is essential reading for policy-makers, politicians, activists and NGOs, planners, researchers and academics, whether in Europe, North America, Australasia or transitional and developing countries, concerned with advancing sustainability in our rapidly urbanizing world.

Presidents and Their Pens: The Story of White House Speechwriters explores 23 presidencies through the detailed analysis of speeches including Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Teddy Roosevelt's "Big Stick" speech, Eisenhower's farewell to the nation, and Bill Clinton's compassionate words in the wake of tragedy. Confidant and wordsmith to five Republican presidents (Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush), professor of language and noted historian James C. Humes tells how and why presidential speeches have marked milestones in our nation's history, from Washington through Obama. Readers will find out how FDR brought down the house with humor, how "Give 'em hell" Harry Truman planned his Whistle-Stop Tours, and how Ronald Reagan defied his advisors to make history at the Berlin Wall. Presenting stories of greatness as well as tragically unfulfilled promise, Presidents and Their Pens also features an introduction by author and historian Julie Nixon Eisenhower.

Political corruption is easy to define - the use of public office for private gain - but it isn't so readily seen because politicians cover their tracks so well. Four of America's most corrupt mayors and their shady dealings are covered in this work. ""Big Bill"" Thompson, who was mayor of Chicago three times, is considered America's worst mayor, having, among other questionable activities, accepted support from gangster Al Capone. Frank Hague of Jersey City described his town as the ""moralest city in the nation"" and banished prostitution and pornography, but he saw no evil in gambling and Jersey City became a gambling mecca. Jimmy Walker of New York City was a ""good time"" mayor and did well as the city prospered, but cared little for the city's money and his own when the Great Depression struck. James Michael Curley of Boston openly asserted that ""politics is my business,"" but he flaunted a lavish home built entirely at the public's expense and was elected again and again, once while he was still in jail.

Facing cutbacks in federal and state assistance and a new wave of taxpayer revolts, local governments have renewed interest in local government consolidation as a way of achieving efficiencies of scale in response to citizen demands for services. Yet the vast majority of consolidation efforts fail, either during the process of drafting a charter or once they reach the ballot - only five have passed since 1990; only thirty-two have been successfully implemented since the first, when the city of New Orleans merged with Orleans Parish in 1805. What accounts for the high failure rate and what factors led to successful consolidations? This volume presents thirteen comparable case studies of consolidation campaigns and distills the findings.

Of all the questions that might be asked about political life, it would be difficult to find one of greater interest than the ancient query: who rules over whom? It appeals powerfully to our curiosity. We want to know who "runs" things--who makes policy decisions in New York, Washington, London, or the town in which we live. Is it a single powerful individual, an economic elite, a series of elites, the citizens, political bosses, or some variant of these possibilities? The major purpose of this volume is to find an answer to this question for a small American city, and to extend the answer through relevant theory to American cities in general. But much more precisely, answers are sought for these interrelated questions: What are the relationships between the rulers and the ruled? How are the rulers related to each other? Are the rulers the same for all policies or do they differ from one area of policy to another? How do leaders arise, and in what way are they different from other people? The issues discussed in this volume are familiar to many towns. They range from controversies about the building of a new water system to housing and zoning codes, from charity appeals to low-income housing, from nominations and elections to industrial development and off-street parking. Wildavsky draws parallels to other community studies and formulates general propositions in support of his thesis that American communities are pluralist. And ultimately, Wildavsky is optimistic that small towns foster citizen participation, giving the population more of a chance to direct its own future. Aaron Wildavsky was, until his death in 1993, professor of political science and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and, while working on the present study, taught at Oberlin College. Transaction has posthumously published Wildavsky's complete essays and papers in five volumes. Nelson W. Polsby is Heller Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught American politics and government since 1967. He is editor of the" Annual Review of Political Science" and author of "Congress and the Presidency."

In 1890-1930, the election system in American cities introduced nonpartisan ballots into the cities. Invisible Partnership evaluates this election scheme and how it disproportionately helps Republicans win local legislative contests and shapes city councils and school boards to produce conservative and pro-developmental local policies, as it places more Republicans with such political beliefs and policy preferences in the offices. Author Chang-Ho C. Ji asserts that partisan politics is a stronger force behind city and local politics than generally thought, ultimately shaping the process and results of local elections and various policy decision-making in cities and local School districts.

The theme of this collection of essays is partnerships between health and local government. Such partnerships are not new. Nor is discussion of the merits (or otherwise) of collaboration between the two sectors. The history of collaboration between these two sectors of the public services has been chequered to say the least; indeed, the boundary between health and social care has been described as a 'Berlin Wall'.
However, New Labour's ascension to power in 1997 has rekindled an avid interest in this issue. The government's emphasis on partnerships and collaboration has been projected as a key element of its 'Third Way' philosophy. Partnership working in particular has been viewed as the most appropriate means of addressing endemic, obdurate social ills, such as social exclusion, poor health, poverty, and low educational standards.

The theme of this collection of essays is partnerships between health and local government. Such partnerships are not new. Nor is discussion of the merits (or otherwise) of collaboration between the two sectors. And the history of collaboration between these two sectors of the public services has been checkered to say the least; indeed, the boundary between health and social care has been described as a 'Berlin Wall'. However, New Labour's ascension to power in 1997 has re-kindled an avid interest in this issue. The Government's emphasis on partnerships and collaboration has been projected as a key element of their 'Third Way' philosophy. Partnership working in particular has been viewed as the most appropriate means of addressing endemic, obdurate social ills, such as social exclusion, poor health, poverty, low educational standards and so on. No one agency can tackle these 'wicked issues' which require collaborative action. New Labour's enthusiasm for partnership approaches produced many new iniatives, legislation and guidance, powers and duties, incentives and rhetoric. And the Government's exhortation to collaborate has been particularly intense in the area of joint working bet

When the landmark book Collaborative Leadership was first published in 1994, it described the premise, principles, and leadership characteristics of successful collaboration. The book outlined an innovative way of building partnerships to solve the civic problems too big for anyone to solve alone as well as a new type of leadership that brings together diverse stakeholders to solve a community's problems. While that book provides a much-needed framework for working together, The Collaborative Leadership Fieldbook offers nonprofit practitioners, community leaders, and public officials a practical, hands-on resource. It presents the tools needed for applying the lessons learned, powerful approaches that get results, and guidance for solving complex community problems. In clear and concise terms, the Fieldbook

• Presents a wide range of tools and concepts that can be readily applied
• Provides a comprehensive guide to collaboration from conception to implementation
• Describes how to establish effective civic leadership development programs to support collaborative efforts
• Contains stories and examples that clearly illustrate the book's concepts and tools
• Helps readers find-quickly and easily-what they need for their specific situations

  
  

The subject of this book is one of the most central and timely in Public Administration - how to make sense of critical theory, and (especially) how to assess its implications for everyday practice. Charles Frederick Abel and Arthur Sementelli argue that Evolutionary Critical Theory - a synergistic employment of the methodologies of traditional social science, institutionalism, and hermeneutics - provides fresh insights into the core issues of Public Administration theory and practice. While some may argue that public administration theory is an oxymoron, this ground-breaking volume explodes that notion and argues that Evolutionary Critical Theory is an especially helpful and powerful tool for administrative scholars and practitioners in their quest to realize good government.

Selected Contents: 1. Introduction2. Theories of Institutional Dynamics3. Political and Administrative Cities4. The Evolution of Political Cities5. The Evolution of Administrative Cities6. The Evolution of the Model City Charter7. The Discovery of Adapted Cities8. Probing the Complexities of Adapted Cities9. The Conciliated City10. Conclusions