Bliss Economic Development and Governance in Small Town America

Paths to Growth
Erscheinungsjahr 2018
ISBN: 978-1-351-18801-2
Verlag: Taylor & Francis
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 232 Seiten

Who governs? And why? How do they govern? These remain vital questions in the politics of our small cities and towns. In this new book, author Daniel Bliss takes issue with those who believe that small towns and cities are fatally vulnerable to the pressures of a global economy. Based on in-depth analyses of small town America, this book demonstrates how political agency can address and solve real problems affecting US towns including capital flight, industrial closures, and job losses. Bliss illustrates how small localities exercise choices – choices such as nurturing local businesses and developing infrastructure rather than engaging in a ‘race to the bottom,’ heavily mortgaging tax revenues to attract large box retailers and small box call centers while passively watching more productive firms and better-paying jobs slip away.

Taking careful account of comparative literature as well as variations in city governments, their planning agencies, and their relations with state authorities, this book explores the ways in which local politicians and public planning bodies can mobilize local constituencies to weather global challenges and common structural problems like unfavorable demographics, skill shortages, and out-migration. Charting recent local histories, Bliss shows that local political actions transcend both state-level structures and the exactions of the global market to demonstrate substantial agency on the part of local people. Economic Development and Governance in Small Town America holds out the promise of meaningful democratic change even in unfavorable political and economic circumstances.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bliss, Daniel E.

Bliss, Daniel

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftspolitik, politische Ökonomie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Verwaltungswissenschaft, Öffentliche Verwaltung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Introduction

1. A Theory of Institutional Capacity and Governance for Economic Development

2. The Economic Context of Municipalities

3. Institutional Frameworks: Intergovernmental Support and Bureaucratic Organization

4. Ely: Infrastructure Delivered, Governance Contested

5. Hibbing, Minnesota: The Evolution of Activist Development

6. Sterling and Rock Falls, Illinois: Reform and Recovery?

7. Comparing Governance of Economic Development

8. Conclusion

Appendix I. Survey Questionnaire

Über Autor(innen)

Daniel Bliss is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Lewis College of Human Sciences at the Illinois Institute of Technology, USA.