City Politics—Who Governs?

Elites or Masses?Remember: Normative and

Empirical Dimensions

Elites Govern: Floyd Hunter

Study of AtlantaWho Has Influence in Decisions?Top 40: Business/Downtown Development, Real Estate made decisions to Protect their interestsGovernment Leaders not in the Top 40Problem with Method?

Robert Dahl: Elites Govern Redux

Study of New Haven, CT Studied Actual Decisions and found that power was noncumulativeLocal Politics was more democratic than Hunter argued, but still elite dominatedNotion of “Pluralism of Elites”

Mass Participation Possible? Berry, Portney

and Thomson

5 cities—Dayton, Portland, Birmingham, San Antonio, St. Paul--with structured opportunities for average citizens to participate in neighborhood organizations

Results seemed to contradict the “Overload Theorists” and their arguments about conflict,alienation, and delay

What About Springfield?

What Elite interests are at work perhaps trying to protect their interests via political decision making?

Any Evidence of mass participation?

Grassroots Organizations, Collective Action and City Government:

Exploring Theories of Neighborhood Mobilization in a Single-City Context

Theoretical Framework: Research Questions

Why? 1. Unique, quick emergence of

several neighborhood organizations in the last 4-5 years.

2. Need more studies that hold the city context constant and compare several neighborhood organizations within the same city.

Research Questions

What factors triggered these orgs into existence?Who are the leaders?What do they feel about their successes and failures?What is their view of city hall?

City Context is Key

Rabrenovic: “...neighborhood associations are embedded in and limited by their environment. Even if they do everything right…the strategies and outcomes of their action depend on the social, economic, and political characteristics of their cities” (Community Builders, 1996, p. 4). So, what about Springfield? Rusk Report!

Political Context

Growth Machine Regime pre-1990

Progressive Regime post-1990

Theoretical Framework

Rational Choice Theory Problem of Collective Action, Particularly

Problematic in Poor Neighborhoods Importance of Selective

Incentives/Goods/Benefits Material Solidary--intangible Purposive--intangible Developmental--intangible Service--intangible Pam Oliver: “If I don’t, no one else will”

External Emphasis

City Hall’s roleOutside Decisions, e.g., Business Development DecisionsDramatic Events: Drive-by ShootingsImportance of Contextual Factors Progressive v. Growth/Machine Economic Factors

Leaders and Activists

65 percent women (DeSena’s notion about Women being the “gatekeepers of urban neighborhoods” is supported here)84 percent were homeowners95 percent had incomes above the citywide medianUPSHOT? Significant elite-dominated leadershipWhat were their motivations?

Environmental Triggers--8

Issues: Standpipe Alliance (Park); Warder Park (Traffic/SafetyCrime/Decay: South Plum (Drugs); WestWatch (Cop Stop); Wheldon Park (Negative Media Image)Public Goods: WestEnd (Streets); Centrac10 (Water in citizen’s yard)Business Development: (S. Yellow Springs)

Environmental Triggers (cont’d.)

Private Redevelopment: S. FountainExternal Enemy: Neighborhood Pride (Housing Development); College Hill (Wittenberg)Physical Upkeep: EastEnd (Code Enforcement); North Hill #2 (“some dead thing”Social Services: SNAP; Hayward

Highlights of Key Findings

Mobilization City-Instigated: WestEnd, SNAP, S.

Yellow Springs, CenTrac10, EastEnd Salient Issues: Neighborhood Pride,

Warder Park, WestWatch Individual/Small Group: (Oliver’s

“pessimism” argument) Standpipe, Warder Park, Hayward, North Hill #2

Key Findings (cont’d.)

Collective Action Problem: Selective Benefits Ability to Sleep at Night Material: Harvey Howard Information Anonymity

Key Findings (cont’d.)

City-Neighborhood Relations Older NA’s were more conflict oriented

under the Growth Machine NA’s have become liaisons or

intermediating orgs between the city and neighborhoods (for whose benefit?)

More supportive environment in the midst of scarce resources; still the potential for NA’s to disband due to collective action problem

How to Structure Participation?

Historical Efforts to Create Opportunities

Effects of these efforts?