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TAMU POLS 207 - Community Politics
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POLS 207 1st Edition Lecture 19 Outline of Last LectureI. Local Government Entities a. Counties i. deal with state concerns ii. types = Board of Commissioners, Elected Executive, Council Administratorb. Municipalities/Citiesi. deal with local concerns ii. Charter of Incorporation iii. Home Rule vs. Dillion’s Rule iv. Mayor Council, City Commission, City Manager c. Special Districtsi. deal with issues that other units of government cannot meet II. Multiplicity of Local Governments – Fragmented Local Government III. Tiebout Model of Local Government Competition Outline of Current LectureI. Machine Politics II. What led to the decline of Party Machines?III. The Reform Government Model IV. Elitism verse Pluralism V. Suburban SprawlVI. Annexation = Cities Bringing In Unincorporated Areas VII. Extra Territorial JurisdictionVIII. Annexing in Texas and in the Future Current LectureCommunity Politics Machine Politics - Machines gained power through o patronage = giving out jobs based on political support to maintain party loyalties o influencing business = processes that go through the machines, such as government contracts, building permits, etc. were easier if you supported the machine, business favors - Machines = when a political party dominated power - hit its height in late 1800s and early 1900s What led to the decline of Party Machines?1. Relied on distributing favors jobs and benefits to poor residents so that poor had tangible benefits they were receiving from the party machines a. When federal gov expands welfare benefits, the poor no longer have to rely on party machines 2. Waves of Immigration in late 1800s-1900s a. Immigrants needed jobs, housing, schools, etc. so party machines helped them b. If party machines assisted immigrants, machines got their political loyaltyc. when waves of immigrants decreased, party machines lost a lot of support3. End of patronage a. Federal government moved toward Merit Hiring with the Pendleton Actb. move towards merit system took away one of the machine’s tools to maintain loyalty 4. Reform Movement a. overall reform movement in the US among intellectuals, political studiers, and other people who saw that government was becoming corrupt b. reformers said party machines were a corrupting influence on government c. created a Reform Government Model to fix things The Reform Government Model- 1) You should have a Council-Manager form of governmento you want a trained professional making decisions in a rational, less political way - 2) Have Non-Partisan Electionso At local level, there is not a Rep/Dem way to pave a road, pick up trash, but…o Republicans might do contracts while Democrats send out workers… o But, reformers argued local issues weren’t party issues o tough to have political machines without political parties- 3) You should have At Large Electionso District/Ward Elections  divide city into districts or wards of even population, each with a council member from each district, just like set up of state legislature o At Large Elections  allow everybody to vote for each council member  for each member, everybody in city elects themo Reformers argued if you divided the city into district whoever is elected from a district only represents that district and doesn’t care about the city as a whole, but at large elections make members concerned about city as a whole o ** District/Ward versus At Large Elections effect >> minority representation tends to be reduced in At Large Elections - 4) Merit system for all local government jobs and contracts o wanted skilled, professional officials not political officials - So what does an unreformed city look like?o might have council-mayor with partisan elections and district elections- Many cities adopt the Reform Model but not all of them- Most common form of government for big cities = Mayor-Councilo several large cities violate the Reform Government Modelo example: It makes sense to have an elected official in charge, like in NYC o if you have a lot of people, it is also hard for council members to represent whole city so insteaddo district elections because council members can represent smaller part of city- Overall, important to consider big cities versus smaller cities - smaller cities are more likely to have a Reform Government Model- sometimes works better to have an Unreformed Gov. Model in larger cties Elitism and Pluralism - Who runs government?- Who makes the decisions?- Two views:o Elitist View of Politics  Who’s in charge? = the top community business leaders run the city  Political power flows from ECONOMIC power  What role do city council leaders play? = follow business leaders Average citizen really does not have a large role  Citizens elect Mayor but Mayor listens to business leaders o Pluralist View of Politics  Who’s in charge? = dominated by a lot of different groups - business interest groups, family oriented groups, environmental groups- different groups are competing for attention and policy - the city government officials now matter!- the Mayor has to choose some big policy areas to focus on- Mayor builds a coalition (team) of different groups- elections now matter because different mayor candidates propose different policies and the different policies will be favored by different groups- Masses matter in pluralist view! Government officials are choosing between groups in what policies they support Masses matter in voting for Mayor o City Limits by Paul Peterson says it depends on types of policies on which view dominates development policies - business policies, tax policies, zoning policies - city financing for new building, loan program for a new building, - in these cases business leaders care most about the policies o what are taxes like? what are loans like? what jobs is the city bringing in?- in these policies, people listen to business leaders allocational policies - delivery of basic city services – police, fire protection, trash, education, parks, …- average citizens care about these issues - average citizens don’t worry about new loan programs/business programs- if roads are terrible, trash isn’t picked up, parks are closed, security, … residents care the most and will want to have a say Pluralist are right if allocational policies dominate, Elitist are right if development policiesSuburban Sprawl - metropolitan area =


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TAMU POLS 207 - Community Politics

Type: Lecture Note
Pages: 5
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