Central Cities’ Loss of Power in State PoliticsAbstractThe article argues that big cities in the United States have lost power in State politics. This development is partly due to declining city populations, but it is also a product of changes in the organization of State politics. Foremost among these changes are the decline of political parties, the rise of interest-based politics in State legislatures, and the growing power of legislatures over Governors. These changes in State politics have made it harder to build policy coalitions that address urban problems, and they have limited the scope of the State's metropolitan agenda at a time when the Federal Government has sharply reduced assistance to big cities.Central Cities’ Loss of Power in State Politics (*.pdf, 85 KB)
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