Week 10 - Urban Politics Flashcards
What are Political Machines?
They are autonomous organisations that are sustained by a politics of material exchange (what we can get from the Government) and a self - regarding ethos who were able to use electoral policies so effectively that their re - election became detached from broad responsiveness to Constituents.
The term machine is used to analyse the transactional process of who gets what - and in a City, the most common boss of a machine is the Mayor and they have historically been the ‘gatekeepers’ as they have the power to place people in municipal jobs.
Machines ensure that jobs are given based on the loyalty to the machine - they are the only ones who can give jobs and therefore, it is their way or no way.
What are Progressive Reformers?
Their aim is to abolish the office of the Mayor as it was too powerful and instead elect lower level figures with less power. At large - elections, this refers to councillors that should be elected from a City, but they are non - partisan elections and therefore they are not allowed to stand for the City office as partisan allegiance i.e. cannot stand as a Republican or Democrat
What is a critique of Progressive Reformers?
They are white and rich - they were a wealthier segment of the society and did not get any benefits from the Machine. Therefore, they wanted to abolish it because it brought nothing to them - whilst others were benefiting from it
What is Political Pluralism?
Focuses on pluralist theory of governance. Here, many groups vie for influence and each can make some demands and win some concessions. This is translated as a ‘polyarchy’ and situates decision - making authority within the local community and empowers decentralisation
How can cities exercise a degree of autonomous power?
A lot of states and cities have refused to assist the Federal Government in their efforts of deporting immigrants. They cannot physically stop the Federal Government, but can say that “we believe in the importance of local police, and therefore only if someone has committed a crime, they will not be asked for identification policies
How can the Federal Governments evade state autonomy?
The Federal Government has more money that State Governments and therefore they can respond to this policy implementation with fiscal and physical enforcement
What does the phrase ‘City Politics is limited Politics’ refer to?
Refers to the idea that in theory, Cities have a lot of power, but when this is translated to practical power, they do not have much power
In what ways is City Politics limited?
- Lack the structural advantages of a Country i.e. they have no control over borders as well as no control over monetary policy
- Dependent on higher levels of Government in the form of fiscal dependence and economic dependence
- Challenges which stretch beyond the City Boundaries such as the environment and gun control
How does Property Tax alter the composition of Cities?
It is a major source of income for municipal governments in the United States; and cities that have high value properties are going to get more income from this. Therefore, in order to redistribute, Cities need high value properties to tax. Furthermore, because cities cannot prevent personal and capital mobility across jurisdictional lines, it struggles in forcing the wealthy to stay and therefore policies start to focus on attracting the wealthy. But this has to be done using regressive measures such as tax breaks.
Outline the New Deal
It was a series of programs and projects instituted during the Great Depression by Roosevelt that aimed to restore economic prosperity. They provided support for farmers, the unemployed, youth and the elderly.
It also included new constraints and safeguards on the banking industry and efforts to re - inflate the economy after prices had fallen sharply
Outline the New Deal Coalition
It was a group of voting blocs and interest groups that supported Roosevelt’s New Deal and voted for Democrat Presidential candidates from 1932 through until the 1960s. It encompassed members from all sections of society including unions, blue collar workers, industry, minorities, intellectuals and became known as a realignment of US politics, thus allowing Democrats to become the majority party
Why did African Americans move from rural South to Northern and Western Cities
To flee Jim Crow laws and other processes such as lynching; as well as looking for manufacturing and other jobs
What were some methods of ‘maintaining white power’ during historical immigration movements?
Zoning ordinances, land use rules, selective placements of public housing and concentrating negative externalities in predominantly black areas i.e. locating rubbish tips and toxic waste disposal centre
s in black neighbourhoods, thus lowering house prices
What was white flight a response to?
Increasing diversity from the Second Great Migration where minorities became racial majorities
What did easier transport result in?
Through legislation such as Highways Act of 1944 and 1956, it was made easier for white communities to live outside of the City and travel into work. This was reflected in the statistic that between 1950 and 1990, there was a 17% decline in US City populations and a 72% increasing in surrounding suburban populations.
