SYLLABUS

1. Monday, August 31.

a) alternative theories of urban politics;
b) demographic change, the politics of racial and ethnic succession, and regime transformation;
c) federalism, metropolitan political fragmentation, and the politics of race and poverty; and
d) the future of urban politics.

[No class Monday, September 7 - Labor Day]

2. Monday, September 14.

How economic restructuring, demographic change, the evolution of federal domestic policies, the political fragmentation of metropolitan areas, the growing spatial concentration of poverty in cities, and their declining influence in state and national politics have influenced urban politics (and vice versa).

Peter Dreier, John Mollenkopf, and Todd Swanstrom, Rethinking the Urban Agenda (Report to the Spivack Committee of the American Sociological Association, 1998).

Elvin K. Wyly, Norman J. Glickman, and Michael L. Lahr, "A Top 10 List of Things to Know About American Cities," Cityscape 3:3 (1998):7-32.

Margaret Weir, "Poverty, Social Rights, and the Politics of Place in the United States," in Stephan Leibfreid and Paul Pierson, eds., European Social Policy: Between Fragmentation and Integration (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1995)

3. Wednesday, September 23. Theories of urban politics: an overview of the issues.

John Mollenkopf, A Phoenix in the Ashes (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), Chapter 2 (How to Study Urban Power), pp. 23-43.

4. Monday, September 28. Theories of urban politics: classic positions

Pluralism
Robert A. Dahl, Who Governs? Power and Democracy in an American City (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1961), Chapter 1 (The Nature of the Problem), pp. 1-8, Chapter 8 (The Ambiguity of Leadership), pp. 89-103, 19 (On the Species Homo Politicus), pp. 223-228, and 27 (Stability, Change, and the Professionals), pp. 305-310.

Neo-Marxism
Ira Katznelson, "The Crisis of the Capitalist City: Urban Politics and Social Control," in M. Lipsky et al, New Theoretical Perspectives on Urban Politics (Englewood Cliffs: PrenticeHall, 1976), pp. 214-229.

John Manley, "NeoPluralism: A Class Analysis of Pluralism I and Pluralism II," American Political Science Review 77:2 (June, 1983), pp. 368-383.

Bi-racial coalition
Rufus P. Browning, Dale Rogers Marshall, and David H. Tabb, eds., Racial Politics in American Cities, 2^nd ed. (White Plains, NY: Longman Publishers, 1997), Introduction (Can People of..., pp. 1-13, Chapter 1 (Mobilization, Incorporation, and Policy in Ten California Cities), pp. 15-40, and Chapter 13 (Has Political Incorporation Been Achieved? Is It Enough?), pp. 277-300.

Regime theory
Gerry Stoker, "Regime Theory and Urban Politics," in David Judge, Gerry Stoker, and Harold Wolman, eds., Theories of Urban Politics (London: Sage Publications, 1995), pp. 54-71.

Beyond Structural Theories
Susan E. Clarke, Lynn A. Staeheli, and Laura Brunnell, "Women Redefining Local Politics," in David Judge, Gerry Stoker, and Harold Wolman, eds., Theories of Urban Politics (London: Sage Publications, 1995), pp. 205-227.

Terry N. Clark, "Structural Realignments in American City Politics: Less Class, More Race, and a New Political Culture," Urban Affairs Review 31:3 (January 1996):367-403

5. Monday, October 5. The impact of federalism on urban politics: the declining political influence of central cities in state and federal politics and the shift of federal aid to people from places.

Margaret Weir, "Central Cities' Loss of Power in Sate Politics," Cityscape 2:2 (May 1996):23-40.

Harold Wolman and Lisa Marckini, "Changes in Central City Representation and Influence in Congress," (paper presented at the annual meeting of the Urban Affairs Association, Toronto, April 17, 1997)

Peter Eisinger, "City Politics in an Era of Federal Devolution," Urban Affairs Review 33:3 (January 1998):308-325.

John Mollenkopf, "Urban Policy," in Margaret Weir, The Social Divide: Political Parties and the Future of Activist Government (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution and Russell Sage Foundation, 1998).

6. Monday, October 19. Racial succession, the rise of black mayors, and the dynamics of bi-racial coalition formation.

Adolph Reed, "The Black Urban Regime: Structural Origins and Constraints," in Michael Peter Smith, ed., Power, Community, and the City (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1988), pp. 138-189.

Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. and Karen M. Kaufman, "Is There an Empowerment Life Cycle? Long-Term Black Empowerment and Its Influence on Voter Participation," Urban Affairs Review 33:6 (July 1998):741-766.

Read one of the chapters in Browning, Marshall, and Tabb which analyzes a black-led mayoral coalition. You may also consult sources beyond this volume.

7. Monday, October 26. Latino politics and the potential for cooperation and competition among Latinos, blacks, and whites.

Katherine Underwood, "Ethnicity is Not Enough: Latino-Led Multiracial Coalitions in Los Angeles," Urban Affairs Review 33:1 (September 1997):3-27.

Charles P. Henry, "Urban Politics and Incorporation: The Case of Blacks, Latinos, and Asians in Three Cities," in James Jennings, ed., Blacks, Latinos, and Asians in Urban America (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994), pp. 17-27.

Read the chapters by Warren and Hero in Browning, Marshall, and Tabb.

8. Monday, November 2. The impact of immigration on the racial and ethnic politics of American cities.

Michael Jones Correa, Between Two Nations (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998), Chapters 4-7.

Luis Eduardo Guarnizo, "On the Political Participation of Transnational Migrants: Old Practices and New Trends," presented to the SSRC Workshop on "Immigrants, Civic Culture, and Modes of Political Incorporation," (1997).

Louis DeSipio, "The Dynamo of Urban Growth: Immigration, Naturalization, and the Reshaping of Urban Politics" (paper presented to the 1997 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC).

9. Monday, November 9. The rise of white, relatively conservative mayors: do they constitute a "Rainbow II"?

Jim Sleeper, "The End of the Rainbow," The New Republic (November 1, 1993), pp. 20-25.

Read one of:

Buzz Bissinger, A Prayer for the City (New York: Random House, 1997) [Ed Rendell, Philadelphia]

John O. Norquist, The Wealth of Cities: How America Wrecked Its Cities and How They Can Grow Rich Again (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Addison-Wesley, 1998) [Norquist, Milwaukee]

Steven Goldsmith, The Twenty-First Century City: Resurrecting Urban America (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1997) [Goldsmith, Indianapolis]

Louise B. Simmons, "A New Urban Conservatism: The Case of Hartford, Connecticut," Journal of Urban Affairs 20:2 (1998): 175-198.

10. Monday, November 16. The state of the grassroots: what effects do community development corporations have?

Randy Stoecker, "The CDC Model of Urban Redevelopment: A Critique and an Alternative," together with replies by Rachel Bratt and Dennis Keating and a rejoinder by Stoecker, Journal of Urban Affairs 19:1 (1997):1-44.

Xavier de Souza Briggs and Elizabeth Mueller with Mercer Sullivan, "From Neighborhood to Community: Evidence on the Social Effects of Community Development," executive summary (Community Development Research Center, New School for Social Research, 1996).

G. Thomas Kingsley, Joseph B. McNeely, and James O. Gibson, Community Building Coming of Age (Washington, DC: Development Training Institute and the Urban Institute, 1997), executive summary.

11. Monday, November 23. Metropolitan political competition and the prospects for regional cooperation.

Paul G. Lewis, Shaping Suburbia: How Political Institutions Organize Urban Development (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996), Introduction, pp. 1-22, and Conclusion, pp. 208-225.

Myron Orfield, Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution and Lincoln Land Institute, 1997), executive summary.

Scott A. Bollens, "Concentrated Poverty and Metropolitan Equity Strategies," Stanford Law and Policy Review 8:2 (Summer 1997):11-23.

12. Monday, November 30. Student reports on case study cities.

13. Monday, December 7. Student reports on case study cities.

14. Monday, December 14. Coming full circle: the organization of urban power in the 21st century and the prospects for renewing urban politics.

Michael Dear and Steven Flusty, "Postmodern Urbanism," Annals of the Association of American Geographers 88:1 (1998):50-72.

Gerry Stoker, "Theory and Urban Politics," (paper presented to the 1997 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC).