Midterm identification terms

Question 1

Populism

Answer 1

is less a coherent ideology than a general set of attitudes toward the world- manifests on left and right.

4 points: 1) A deep distrust of political and economic elites. 2) Disdain for concentrated political and economic power 3) Venerates(highly regards and adores) of the virtues of the common man 4) scorns expertise and celebrates ‘common sense’.

The Populist Omaha platform (1892) was the formative convention (& creation) of the populist party where the basic tenets of the populist movement were set out: railroad regulation, banking reform, free silver.

The rural-urban division ignited a political debate about the effect of industrialization on american life

Question 2

Railroads

Answer 2

industrialization of the 19th century was driven by the railroad; they promised economic opportunity to the cities. in the end, this fueled populism. the survival of a city was dependent on economic development

BEFORE 1920(birthdate of Urban America) steam-powered engine and transcontinental railroad system were at the center of the 3 trends that took off after the civil war. 1) industrialization and commerce 2) mass transit 3) influx of foreign and internal migration patterns.

the survival of cities hinged on their ability to serve as centers of trade and commerce.

railroads stitched communities together and opened new economic opportunities. e.g. chicago.

railroad companies pitted municipalities against each other.
rise of populism–>exploitative practices by the railroad fed into larger populist stirrings, especially in West and South. cities undertook massive debt by offering subsidies to railroad comapnies

as railroads transformed the west, they also helped cause industrialization in the cities

Question 3

Great Southern Migration

Answer 3

movement of African-Americans from the US rural South into the urban North. Push factor was systemic racial violence in the South and a pull factor was that newspapers advocated for african americans to move north to advance the case of racial equality. Prior to WWI blacks had limited job opportunities in the city. black’s self-segregated into their own neighborhoods- this caused White flight out of the urban core. vibrant black urban culture developed in places like harlem NY.

Question 4

Political Monopolies

Answer 4

are political regimes that can maintain political dominance without series electoral challenge.

2 conditions for PM: 1) broad support within the business community 2) strong alliances within the state legislature, even Congress.

not all machines are verifiable PM’s

Question 5

“Great Society”

Answer 5

In under five years in the 1960s, Lyndon B Johnson/LBJ enacted nearly 200 pieces of legislation known as the Great Society. Johnson prodded Congress to churn out nearly 200 new laws launching civil rights protections; Medicare and medicaid; food stamps; urban renewal, the first broad federal investment in elementary and high schools. Notable and historical programs were the Civil Right Act of 1964 and Economic Opportunity Act.

Question 6

Tammany Hall

Answer 6

In NY; the oldest and most famous political machine in the country. began as an anti federalist social club in 1790. by the 1830s it grew into a working-class political organization. by mid century, the machine made up a major wing of the Democratic Party

William M Tweed became the first Tammany boss to exert city wide influence (1860s); ran the city like a chairman of a cooporation through commitee known as ‘Tweed Ring’

Question 7

Ward Bosses

Answer 7

served as heads of local coalitions(alliances) of party leaders, elected officials, and business leaders

Question 8

Chicago Machine

Answer 8

wasn’t as organized as the NY machine. ward bosses often competed with each other for influence– bosses were political entrepreneurs

no city wide boss until 1931. most famous boss of the chicago machine was richard j. daley and was mayor from 1955 until his death in 1976. he kept chicago profitable by running major public services through cook county

chicago machine was well connected with state legislature and federal government. it played a hardball style politics by subtly exploiting class and racial tensions

Question 9

Nativism

Answer 9

is a feature of the progressive movement but wasn’t discussed much at the time: it’s the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants

the source of moral and social decay for many progressives was the tide of immigrants flooding into the country (catholicism, alcoholism, corruption)

Question 10

Dillon’s Rule

Answer 10

legal doctrine developed in the 19th century outlining the relationship between local governments with the states

when powers are not explicitly given to local governments, they are denied that power; when there is uncertainty whether cities have some authority, the presumption is that it doesn’t exist

this legal doctrine was developed for 2 reasons: 1) corrupt practices created by machines 2) the tendancy of local govts to violate contracts made with private companies

• City of Clinton v. Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroad(1868)(a case in iowa over comp between two cities over railroad contracts
• Community Communication Co. v. Boulder (1982)

Question 11

Municipal Incorporation

Answer 11

Occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located. Often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter; the drawing/creation of new city lines

Question 12

Incorporation Doctrine

Answer 12

Process by which the Bill of Rights was applied to the states by the fed govt. Altered the relationship between the federal and state governments. legitamized through the due process clause(No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.) of the 14th amendment

Question 13

Block/Categorical Grants

Answer 13

a solution to fiscal federalism(congress having no plenary authority); gives them more power over state and local: in areas where Congress does not have the constitutional authority to legislate, it can induce compliance from state & local authorities w/grant-in-aid programs(35% of general revenue of state govts): BLOCK AND CATEGORICAL GRANTS.

categorical grants: have strings attached- federal has complete control; choose what the city is going to do with the granted $$$

block grants: city has the control over $$$ given to them by the federal govt

Question 14

National Industrial Recovery Act

Answer 14

in 1933, Congress passed the National Industrial Recovery Act in result of Roosevelt and his administration distrusting city politics and urban culture ; first 2 years of New Deal dedicated to a comprehensive farm policy

Law was designed as a 7.8b(?) program of large-scale public works designed to stimulate the recovery of heavy industries

it created the Public Works Administration–these projects were strictly urban & accounted for 2/3 of all big city relief efforts. employed 3M people nation wide

Question 15

The Urban Crisis

Answer 15

After WWII, factories began to relocate to rural hillsides. Two important trends that contribute to the urban crisis are 1) the rise of the regional shopping center and 2) proliferation of corporate space. Also, industries started making more advance in automation, so they didn’t require as many employees and the employees they did need were ones that were educated. Middle and upper class fled to the suburbs, taking financial resources as African Americans moved into the cities. Chronic unemployment eventually created concentrated poverty and crime.

Question 16

Civil Rights Act of 1968

Answer 16

attempted to ban discrimination in the housing market

Question 17

FHA: Federal Housing Administration

Answer 17

was created through the National Housing Act of 1934. provided mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders. regulated the rate of interest and the terms of mortgages that it insured; intended to make home mortgages more affordable. its chief goal was to protect the value of the home being insured. FHA admins encouraged develpers of the residential neighborhoods to establish restrictive covenants prohibitng racial minorities from buying homes. loans were also not avialable to black people

Question 18

Zoning

Answer 18

Used by local authorities to determine land-use in the community; it dictates what kind of development can occur and where. Originally used to restrict less affluent people in settling in nearby wealthy neighborhoods.
-First zoning ordinance was passed in NYC in 1916 to protect parts of Fifth Avenue from new construction in the garment district
-***Village of Euclid vs. Amber Realty Co (1926): City downgraded property value that amber realty co just bought for commercial use, to residential use. Supreme Court ruled that segregating residential property from other uses was a legitimate exercise of the city’s police power to promote the general welfare of its residents.
The Euclid decision legitimized the practice of exclusionary zoning-which became the chief tool for residential exclusion

Question 19

Pluralism

Answer 19

developed in the 60s in reaction to elite theory

rather than power being concentrated in the hands of an elite few, the political system is marked by political diversity-government serves as broker among competing interests

• principles of pluralism: -power is fragmented and decentralized
• dispersed inequalities exist in society
• political outcomes in different policy areas reflect different processes and sets of actors
• the exercise of political power extends beyond the formal institutions of government
• the combination of fragmented decision making and policy uncertainty binds people to the political process as final arbiter(judge)

Question 20

Poly-Centricity

Answer 20

Offered by Ostrom, Tiebout, and Warren (1961) that was a broad theoretical view of competition-based local governance. Articulates the fundamental problem of centralized authority-gargantua-in a metropolitan area. While mass transit, sanitation, and utilities might work for gargantuan, it ultimately becomes inefficient for meeting the demands of local micro-populations-i.e. demands related to street maintenance and neighborhood safety.

• As such, a polycentric system may be preferable so long as it can adequately deal with the patterns of cooperation, competition, and conflict are characteristic of having multiple political sub-units
• Increases responsiveness to citizen demands and efficiency
• Tiebout sorting is what drives the creation of the market conditions that makes poly-centricity possible

Question 21

The Lakewood Plan (1954)

Answer 21

Lakewood, CA was the first mun. to get incorporation(legal drawing of boundaires around communities/suburbs to become self-governing) to get around the city limits, and contracted directly with the county for public services

Question 22

Dispersed Inequality

Answer 22

6 characteristics:

1) multiple types of resources used for political influence
2) these resources are unequally distributed
3) being endowed(funded by someone else) with one resource often means diminished endowment of another
4) no one resource dominates any other
5) some resources are better suited for some issues areas than others
6) no one group is completely lacking in resources

Question 23

New Deal Coalition

Answer 23

The New Deal stitched together an electoral coalition that dominated American politics for 50 years

Democratic party considered themselves as the party or urban populations

the new deal forged a direct relationship b/w the fed govt and cities. cities were hardest hit by depression and states were uninterested in helping their cities financial situations

central to new deal was a federal legislation dedicated to direct aid to urban populations

Question 24

Frank Murphy

Answer 24

During the Depression, Detroit(this city’s experience embodies the class municipal experience during depression) elected Frank Murphy as mayor on the promise that he would bring unemployment relief

He brought benefits to over 40,000 families at the cost of $2M/month. This bankrupted the city; emergency loan allowed city to meet its 1931 payroll

in spring of 1932, murphy invited mayors from 29 major cities across country to attend a conference thats goal was to get federal assistance. response was a direct consequence of state inaction of the early days of depression. the conference spawned a permanent organization dedicated to lobbying city interests in Washington: The US Conference of Mayors

Question 25

National Housing Act (1934)

Answer 25

One of the many acts Roosevelt signed his approval on for the New Deal in his 1st 100 days as president; to prop up housing market. Created the FHA(federal housing administration)

Question 26

Developmental/Redistributive/Allocational Policies

Answer 26

• city limits* 3 types of policies:
  1) developmental policies-cities are forced to engage in the single-minded pursuit of developmental politices that promote a city’s economic interests(growth policies)

the next two are policies encouraging capital investment and economic growth for the sake of protecting its own fiscal base(3 ways this is done);*taxes on property rather than on capital, corporate profits or income—

2) redistributive policies-avoidance of these;ex-(the transfer of income and of wealth (including physical property) from some individuals to others by means of a social mechanism such as taxation, charity, welfare, public services, land reform, monetary policies, confiscation, divorce or tort law.)
3) maximizing efficiency of allocational policies(occurs when the nation’s resources are allocated in the production of goods and services such that living standards or welfare are at the absolute maximum)

Question 27

16th Amendment

Answer 27

this amendment of the constitution permitted Congress to levy an income tax; disproportionately among states

-The 16th amendment was one of the two things that made fiscal federalism possible (the other was moving off the gold standard). Because the SC ruled income tax federally unconstitutional, Congress passed legislation that Congress can pose income tax instead; it creates a new reservoir for government to use

Question 28

Nativism

Answer 28

is a feature of the progressive movement but wasn’t discussed much at the time: it’s the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants

fostered xenophobia that led many progressives to believe that the tide of immigrants flooding into the country was the source of corruption (catholicism, alcoholism, corruption)

Question 29

National Defense Highway Act (1956)

Answer 29

created a 42,000 mile national highway system. while initially designed for national security, highways were used to relieve congestion in urban areas. it also facilitated suburban sprawl, and provided states with federal dollars for highway construction. the downside to these new highway systems was that they were destroying urban neighborhoods and displaced 100s of 1000s of city residents, most of whom were poor and racial minorities. constructing new highways became one of the main reasons for slum clearance.

Question 30

U.S. Council of Mayors (1932)

Answer 30

founded in 1932

Question 31

Fiscal Federalism

Answer 31

congress does not have plenary(unrestricted) legislative authority; it only has enumerated plus implied powers

was made possible by 2 things: 1)passage of 16th amendment 2) moving off the gold standard

Question 32

Strong Mayor System

Answer 32

taking control of bureaucracy and giving it to the mayor (who was elected by the people) (decisions in regards to police, public works, fire, and health department.)
the mayor is the chief excecutive, and the city council is the city’s legislative body

Question 33

Elite Theory

Answer 33

theory of governance that speaks to the question of power- who has it and who makes the decisions?

belief that political power is held/controlled by an elite group of decision-makers outside of formal political institutions

modern elite theorists argue that political power is ultimately vested with the business elite- nothing gets done without their approval

Question 34

Paul peterson- city limits

Answer 34

debate b/w elite theorists and pluralists known as the community power debate

both groups assume that internal forces(the internal distribution of political power) are solely responsible for shaping local policy outcomes

peterson CHALLENGES this view by highlighting the limits of local authority

he argues that the structure of federalism makes city politics distinct(clear in their differences) from national politics

the structure of US federalism places limits on local governments-local communities can’t regulate capital flight-which make fulfilling a city’s interests difficult

author defines a city’s interests as maintaining or enhancing its: 1) economic position 2)social prestige 3)political influence

cities are forced to engage in the single-minded pursuit of developmental policies that promote a city’s economic interests(growth policies)

Question 35

Fiscal Federalism

Answer 35

congress does not have plenary(unrestricted) legislative authority; it only has enumerated plus implied powers

was made possible by 2 things: 1)passage of 16th amendment(allowance of income tax) 2) moving off the gold standard()

Question 36

Federalism

Answer 36

is the division of sovereignty among different levels of government. federalism is also known as ‘intergovernmental relations’

division of sovereignty requires 2 things: 1) an independent power of taxation 2) control over administrative personnel.

ADVANTAGES:
protects liberty by dividing sovereignty, improves representation, well suited for sprawling geography, fosters experimentation and innovation

DISADVANTAGES: introduces more complex governance, generates conflicts among various governments, makes accountability difficult (assigning credit and blame), lack of uniformity in rules and standards creates vast inequalities across states

the constitution basically created the concept of federalism. the constitution was written in response to the failure of the articles of confederation. constitutions ultimate goal was more powerful national govt: taxing&spending power, supremacy clause, necessary and proper clause, commerce clause

Question 37

Housing Act of 1949

Answer 37

Housing Act of 1949
Was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of President Harry Truman's program of domestic legislation, the Fair Deal. Goals were:
-Remove urban blight
-Slum clearance
-Provide decent housing

Question 38

Tiebout Sorting (1856)

Answer 38

Charles Tiebout (1856) argues that in metropolitan areas, citizens reveal their true preferences for public expenditure through their decision to pick-up and move to their ideal community (ideal community à one where the best public services are available with lowest tax burden). The decision that citizens vote with their feet forces nearby localities to compete with one another, as if part of a competitive market for residents to maximize their local tax bases. Uses mobility as the mechanism by which citizens reveal their true preferences and introduces fiscal discipline for local government. its a threat of exit.

There are several key assumptions:

• Voters are fully mobile (votew/feet;creates comp market for businesses to provide more for less)(creates upper class bias;only works for the privileged)
• Voters have full knowledge of differences among spending and revenue patterns across municipalities
• There are numerous communities to choose from for voters
• Employment restrictions not considered
• There are no externalities associated with public goods

EVIDENCE: is this true?; evidence of greater sorting in large metro areas & higher levels of public service provision satisfaction.

Question 39

U.S. Conference of Mayors

Answer 39

the conference(started by Frank Murphy- mayor of Detroit during Depression who invited 29 other large city mayors; attempting to get direct federal assistance) spawned a permanent organization dedicated to lobbying city interests in Washington: The US Conference of Mayors.

founded in 1932

Question 40

‘benefits received’ principle

Answer 40

the taxing principle that local government relies on is benefits received. is determined by benefits received by those taxes (your tax burden) “you get what you pay for”

Question 41

Al Smith

Answer 41

Presidential Candidate who came out of Tammany Hall Political Machine in NY.

Question 42

Paul peterson- city limits

Answer 42

debate b/w elite theorists and pluralists known as the community power debate

both groups assume that internal forces(the internal distribution of political power) are solely responsible for shaping local policy outcomes

peterson CHALLENGES this view by highlighting the limits of local authority

he argues that the structure of federalism makes city politics distinct(clear in their differences) from national politics

the structure of US federalism places limits on local governments-local communities can’t regulate capital flight-which make fulfilling a city’s interests difficult(peterson argues that we do see this fear of capital flight)*

author defines a city’s interests as maintaining or enhancing its: 1) economic position 2)social prestige 3)political influence

peterson calls local governance “a new theory of federalism”

• *when explaining the divergence b/w national and local governments you must acknowledge their differing approaches to raising revenue:
• national govt relies on the ability-to-pay principle: if you have $$$ you’ll be taxed more. this is a fundamentally progressive method of taxation

-local govt relies on the benefits received principle

3 different types of policies: developmental, allocational and redistributive.

^there is a broad general agreement in local developmental policy. most political conflict occurs w/allocational policies. redistributive policies are ignored entirely and remain the purview of the fed govt

Question 43

(1953) Hunter’s landmark study of Atlanta

Answer 43

he applied elite theory to urban governance. observed that influential members of community organized themselves into groups–members w/in each group shared similar interests. all the group leaders were elite power brokers and decision makers. every member of these groups was a senior excecutive in key ATL businesses. mayor was only public official apart of group. “lawmakers elected by ppl” was an illusion. policy formulation was occuring outside formal govt

Question 44

The Dayton Plan

Answer 44

Plan for city government that was the first to introduce the role of city manager. Consolidated work of a commission into one unelected official (the city manager).

Question 45

‘benefits received’ principle

Answer 45

the taxing principle that local government relies on is benefits received. is determined by benefits received by those taxes (your tax burden) “you get what you pay for”

Question 46

Paul peterson- city limits

Answer 46

debate b/w elite theorists and pluralists known as the community power debate

both groups assume that internal forces(the internal distribution of political power) are solely responsible for shaping local policy outcomes

peterson CHALLENGES this view by highlighting the limits of local authority

he argues that the structure of federalism makes city politics distinct(clear in their differences) from national politics

the structure of US federalism places limits on local governments-local communities can’t regulate capital flight-which make fulfilling a city’s interests difficult(peterson argues that we do see this fear of capital flight)*

author defines a city’s interests as maintaining or enhancing its: 1) economic position 2)social prestige 3)political influence

peterson calls local governance “a new theory of federalism”

• *when explaining the divergence b/w national and local governments you must acknowledge their differing approaches to raising revenue:
• national govt relies on the ability-to-pay principle: if you have $$$ you’ll be taxed more. this is a fundamentally progressive method of taxation

-local govt relies on the benefits received principle

3 different types of policies: developmental, allocational and redistributive.

^there is a broad general agreement in local developmental policy. most political conflict occurs w/allocational policies. redistributive policies are ignored entirely and remain the purview of the fed govt