Four Cities

Williams, Oliver P.; Adrian, Charles R.

doi:10.9783/9781512808919

Cited by 50 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Other political scientists had demonstrated that the elements of local government structure such as the gender and ethnicity of the chief administrator, the composition of the municipal council, and the method of election of public officials were predictors of variation in services among municipalities (e.g., Williams & Adrian, 1963). Lineberry and Fowler (1967) for example, identified the local government structure from the least reformed (mayor-council, partisan election with all council members elected from districts) to most reformed government (council-manager, nonpartisan with all council members elected at-large).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of local political culture on policing behaviors in the 1990s: A retest of Wilson’s theory in more contemporary times

Zhao

Lovrich

2006

Journal of Criminal Justice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of local political culture on policing behaviors in the 1990s: A retest of Wilson’s theory in more contemporary times

Zhao

Lovrich

2006

Journal of Criminal Justice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…One plausible explanation for this negative relationship is the often stated intention of reform to discourage the link between the local political machine and the ethnic or racial groups that support it, groups that traditionally constitute a disproportionate share of the disadvantaged or low-income sector of the population. In support of this explanation, Williams and Adrian (1963) found that the institution of reformed government affects both voter participation and electoral success, and that reformism is associated with increased success for middle class voters and office seekers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…In addition, a structural feature, degree of reform, has a significant impact in two policy areas, which suggests that it has a filtering effect on the way the political system translates preferences. Studies by Williams and Adrian (1963) and by Greenstone and Peterson (1968) show that the degree of reform can affect which community groups are more likely to be represented in the policy process.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…For example, Hunter's (1953) well-known work on community power structure argues that mayors' priorities are shaped primarily by the values and influence structure of a dominant business community. Work by Williams and Adrian (1963) points to the importance of the political structure, particularly the degree of reform present, in determining both the level of political participation in a community and the socioeconomic background of people who run for city office. It might be inferred from this finding that electoral and managerial reform result in the selection of a mayor with substantially different preferences than a mayor [54] selected in the absence of reform.…”

Section: Factors Influencing Mayors' Preferencesmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Policy Preferences Among Urban Mayors

Sacco

Parle

1977

Urban Affairs Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purpose of this paper is to determine which of a selected number of factors in the urban environment are important in influencing the priorities and goals mayors espouse for their cities. Mayors are often deemed influential in community politics; however, little is known about what shapes their priorities. To probe this question, four goal areas—community attractiveness, economic development, aid to the disadvantaged, and government efficiency—are selected for analysis. The results—based on data from National Opinion Research Center's Permanent Community Sample—suggest that no one political or social factor in the urban environment dominates across all four goal areas, but rather that there tends to be a different "politics" at work in each goal area.Much of the post-1950 literature dealing with American mayors has focused on the issue of community decision making and the degree of influence mayors have in the community decision structure, with particular attention being given to their influence vis-A-vis business and industrial leaders. Two major propositions of the early community studies are that decision making is characterized by a monolithic power structure with business and economic leaders at the helm or that it is characterized by a more fragmented array of elites, each of whom specialize in a different issue area. The latter proposition implies that AUTHORS' NOTE: We would like to express our appreciation to Wanda Foster for her assistance in preparing this manuscript for publication.

show abstract

“…Previously unspecified latent dimensions proved useful both in simplifying and in extending political output models. Little connection was found with what community leaders considered to be the proper tasks of local government, however-tasks that led previous investigators to a fourfold typology of local governmental roles (Williams and Adrian, 1963): promoting economic growth, or "boosterism"; providing for or securing life's amenities, or "amenities"; maintaining nothing but traditional local government services, or "caretaker" government; and arbitrating among conflicting interests-the "arbiter," or "brokerage," function. A classification based upon those roles would have to be built using new differentiating variables measured on new scales.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Technology-Sensitive Urban Typology

Berry

1996

Urban Geography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

City classifications completed or proposed since the City Classification Handbook was published in 1972 are reviewed, and an alternative approach that links types of cities to technological premises and to long-term macrohistorical processes is proposed.In its charge to the author, the Office of Technology Assessment requested a report that (1) provided a brief overview of the intellectual history of city classification systems and how academics, planners, and others have used these systems; (2) summarized the principal classification systems that had been advanced to differentiate U.S. cities since the City Classification Handbook was published in 1972; (3) assessed how the various classification schemes discussed relate to one another; (4) developed a DOS-compatible spreadsheet database listing all U.S. metro areas and how the schemes offering actual classifications characterized them; and (5) offered suggestions for the development of classifications that link technological regimes and urban typologies in a consistent theoretical framework. Classification Systems for U.S. Cities attempted to respond to OTA's request. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the report's conclusions and recommendations, particularly with respect to objectives (1), (2), and (5).Classification Systems began by pointing out that classifications seek out the order that exists within diversity: to classify is to believe that objects share common characteristics. Naming objects, and hence classifying them, is a fundamental feature of language. In this sense, classifications of settlements are part of everyday discourse. The similarities and differences present in urban hierarchies are captured by the distinctions between hamlets, villages, towns, cities, and metropolitan areas. A governmental hierarchy is implicit in the distinction between county seats and state capitals. Likewise, differences are captured by the distinctions between central cities, suburbs, and exurbs-yet another dimension of everyday differentiation that carries with it images of roles and functions. The purpose of more formal city classifications is, however, to go beyond everyday discourse. Social scientists strive to understand the causal processes that produce observed patterns; a first step is to reduce the patterns to a few manageable categories. Policymakers look for clues about the pathways to achieve specified goals, or about the consequences of different courses of action, turning either to the scientific understanding of causal processes or, failing that, to the lessons that may be learned from the experiences of "comparables."A number of efforts to provide a more systematic basis for understanding types of cities that might, in turn, improve urban policymaking and city management can be 674

show abstract

Four Cities

Cited by 50 publications

References 0 publications

The effect of local political culture on policing behaviors in the 1990s: A retest of Wilson’s theory in more contemporary times

The effect of local political culture on policing behaviors in the 1990s: A retest of Wilson’s theory in more contemporary times

Policy Preferences Among Urban Mayors

Technology-Sensitive Urban Typology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About