Urbanization in a Federalist Context by Martin, Roscoe;

Short description:

The emergence of America as a metropolitan-urban society has had profound consequences for every phase of national life, but nowhere has its effects been greater than in the domain of government

Long description:

The emergence of America as a metropolitan-urban society has had profound consequences for every phase of national life, but nowhere has its effects been greater than in the domain of government. The growth of the city and its evolution into the metro-city has led to problems more complex and intense than any previously known. These problems command the concern and resources of all governments, federal as well as state and local; for as they have gained general attention they have emerged as national problems.

Coincident with national involvement in problems once held to be local has come a rise in federal government relations with the cities. Such relations, though in fact of long standing, have increased greatly in number and intensity since 1933. The result is a significant expansion in the practice of federalism, one marked by the emergence of the cities as partners in the federal system. Urbanization in a Federalist Context treats the expanded federal partnership in urban growth and argues that it is not a fact to be welcomed.

Martin traces the expansion of federal authority in the United States from the 1930s through the 1960s. He shows how local issues become national issues, and also how national authority expands, affecting all aspects of location government. The developments he explores reflect a federal system in the process of constant but evolutionary growth. Martin reveals why the relationship between the federal system and metro-cities is a flexible arrangement, capable of adjusting to new demands-but not without its own risks. This classic will be of continuing interest to those concerned about the consequences of the expansion of government authority in the United States.

Table of Contents:

l. A Nation of Cities
The Urbanization of America
Emergence of a New Society
The Country and the City
Urban Dwellers and Farm Folk
Some Consequent Problems
2. The American System: The Many and the One
The Federal System
The Place of the Cities
The Cities and the States
The Cities and theN ation
Quest for Operational Effectiveness
An Evolving Federalism
3. Unequal Partners: The Case of the Reluctant State
State Constitutions
Representative Government
Organization for Administration
Resources
Programs
Horizons
Conclusion
4. Emergence of an Urban Partner
Government and Civil Aviation
The Issue of Federal Aid
The Recipient Government Dilemma
The Two Positions
Congressional Action and Reaction
The Crystallization of Policy
5. The Expanded Partnership: Nature
Rise of Federal-City Relations
Three Joint Programs
Federal-Aid Airport Program
Urban Renewal
Low-Rent Public Housing
Some Observations on the Expanded Partnership
6. Three Views of the Expanded Partnership
Washington: The View from Above
The Community: The View from Below
The State House: The Midway View
7. The Expanded Partnership: Appraisal
Consequences Anticipated and Unanticipated
Problems Real and Fancied
Local Government Organization
The Metropolitan Problem
The Expanded Partnership and the States
The Expanded Partnership and Democratic Government
Index