Comparative Civic Culture Reese, Laura A.; Rosenfeld, Raymond A.
2012, 20160523, 2016-05-23, 2016-05-26, 2012-03-01, 20120101
eBook
The quest for a theoretical framework for understanding urban policy-making has been a recurring focus of research into local governments. Civic culture is a means for understanding how municipal ...policy-makers weigh the interests of different groups, govern the local community, frame local goals, engage in decision-making, and ultimately select and implement public policies. While it seems that culture 'matters' in local policy making, how to measure culture in a valid and replicable fashion presents a significant challenge which the authors address in this book. They present their findings of a large multi-city research project to explore the nature of civic culture in cities in the US and Canada. The focus of their analysis is on three overarching 'systems' of community power system, the community value system, and the community decision-making system. The authors address a number of questions around the nature of civic culture and the relationships between the three systemic elements of civic culture, to refine and apply a more sophisticated theory of urban policy-making.
In this seminal work, the authors argue that there are distinct local factors that shape the environment of economic development decision-making. These factors, taken together, constitute a ...community′s local civic culture. Using survey and case study data from U.S. and Canadian cities, the authors make the case that different cultures will produce different types of economic development policies, and that local civic culture will effect the whole array of local policies.
This symposium presents a subset of findings from a larger multicity research project using a single operational and methodological scheme to explore the nature of civic culture. The overall purpose ...is to explore civic cultures in an array of larger cities, test an initial typology of civic culture, and begin to examine the connections between civic culture and local policy. The articles in the symposium make clear that it is possible to empirically identify a parsimonious taxonomy of local civic cultures focusing on systems of community power, values, and decision-making. While many questions about the internal dynamics of each type remain to be answered, the civic cultures identified here appear empirically distinct and theoretically logical. Future research and dialogue need to focus on defining what culture is and what it is not, and then move to explore the linkages between the elements of civic culture and ultimately to local policy.
This article examines local economic development goals and policies in Canada and the United States during a 7year period. The analysis is based on surveys of cities with a population greater than ...10,000 in the two countries conducted in 1994 and 2001, allowing for an assessment of the extent of change versus stability in overall approach toward economic development. Economic development priorities in both U.S. and Canadian cities have remained relatively stable, focusing most heavily on traditional economic development strategies. Cities in both countries are tightening their focus on a traditional package of policies and thus appear to be institutionalizing their approaches. Whereas U.S. cities manifest a more passive role for government, Canadian cities reflect a more active role through partnerships that require an active professional staff.
Reconsidering Private Sector Power Reese, Laura A.; Rosenfeld, Raymond A.
Urban affairs review (Thousand Oaks, Calif.),
05/2002, Volume:
37, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
This article raises questions about several key assumptions about business involvement in local policy making generally and in local development policy specifically. At issue is the nature and extent ...of systemic business influence and the nature of public policies that result. Based on data from a survey of 350 cities in Canada and the United States and nine case studies, the authors conclude that business interests are not unitary nor cohesive within cities, the composition and nature of the private sector is not uniform across cities, and that differentiated patterns of business input and policy output can result. The authors ultimately argue that a broader perspective is needed to fully portray the variety of public/private relationships present in cities than the prevalent growth machine or development regime frameworks suggest. The broader construct of local civic culture is provided as a more contextual basis for understanding the myriad roles businesses play in local economic development policy processes.
This article explores various aspects of the conventional wisdom regarding local economic development policy and policy making. Much widely accepted knowledge about why and how local governments ...approach economic development is based on a fairly narrow array of methodological approaches. And the conclusions often suffer from the limitations inherent in their respective methodologies. This may mean that what we think we know about local economic development might be reasonably accurate, but it does not quite reflect actual local dynamics. Yes, the conventional wisdom is true, but... Using data from a large survey database of Canadian and U.S. cities along with findings from nine case studies in medium-size and smaller cities in both nations, the authors challenge a number of accepted truths and present an alternative civic culture framework for better understanding economic development policy making.
This article examines the metropolitan consolidation of the Ottawa-Carleton Region of Ontario by focusing on the experience of one city, Gloucester. Case study interviews conducted before and ...immediately after consolidation reveal the hopes and concerns of those involved in the transition. The interviews were supplemented by a variety of government documents. Thus, the study represents a mid-stage report on the consolidation of multiple cities into a new city. The authors address questions related to motivation, goals, the new structure, effects on public employees, immediate impacts on service quantity and quality, the issue of short-term cost savings, and changes in local power structures.
This article examines local economic development goals and policies in Canada and the United States during a 7 year period. The analysis is based on surveys of cities with a population greater than ...10,000 in the two countries conducted in 1994 and 2001, allowing for an assessment of the extent of change versus stability in overall approach toward economic development. Economic development priorities in both U.S. and Canadian cities have remained relatively stable, focusing most heavily on traditional economic development strategies. Cities in both countries are tightening their focus on a traditional package of policies and thus appear to be institutionalizing their approaches. Whereas U.S. cities manifest a more passive role for government, Canadian cities reflect a more active role through partnerships that require an active professional staff.
This article analyzes Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) spending by local governments between 1988–1992. We address four issues examining actual expenditure patterns in a small central city ...and five satellite cities in Michigan: changes in CDBG expenditure patterns; levels of social targeting; the extent of institutionalization of expenditure patterns; and the level of privatization of CDBG spending. We conclude that while spending for housing and public works is related to the fiscal health of cities, expenditures for economic development and social services are related to political characteristics. Further, local governments exceed federal social targeting guidelines. Finally, while there is little privatization, the communities studied evidence modest levels of program innovation in the later years of the CDBG program.
