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This book attempts to make a comparative analysis of the political
process in four middle-sized American cities over the decade
1948-1957. By holding certain factors constant, explanations were
sought for policy variations over this time span and in communities
of similar size, ranging in population from 50,000 to 70,000.
Naming their cities by means of the neutral symbols Alpha, Beta,
Gamma, and Delta, the authors embarked upon an extensive program of
research involving reading back through the daily newspapers of
each city over the ten-year period and conducting extensive
interviews, principally among those individuals most likely to be
conversant with the city's key issues. An examination of the
relationship between policy, the policy process, and general
community characteristics provided a focus for the analysis of the
data. Running through the gamut of civic activities, the cities'
responses were found to vary with respect to urban renewal, park
systems, pay scales for city employees, inspection services, and
sewage disposal systems. A typology of local political values was
applied in terms of four factors: economic growth, provision of
life's amenities (that is, comforts as well as necessities),
maintenance of traditional services only, and arbitrating among
conflicting interests. A framework was thus provided for developing
a theory of political decisions at the local level. Four Cities is
the result and embodiment of this intensive and highly competent
study. Its concluding chapters suggest ways in which community
characteristics and institutional arrangements are related to the
divergent courses cities take to meet their administrative
problems, and the descriptive data throughout the book serve to
test various generalizations about local politics made in the
literature of political science. Anyone interested in city
government-whether as a political scientist, urban sociologist,
government researcher, or simply as a taxpayer-will find this book
useful and enlightening.
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