A comprehensive reference work which provides a way to access research on urban politics and policy in the United States. Experts in the field guide readers through major controversies, while evaluating and assessing the subfields of urban politics and policy. Each chapter follows the same basic organization with topics such as methodological and theoretical issues, current states of the field, and directions for future research. For students, this work provides a starting place to guide them to the most important works in a particular subfield and a context to place their work in a larger body of knowledge. For scholars, it serves as a reference work for immediately familiarity with subfields of the discipline, including classic studies and major research questions. For urban policymakers or analysts, the handbook provides a wealth of information and allows quick identification of existing academic knowledge and research relevant to the problem at hand.

First Published in 1998. Approximately 75 percent of Americans live in cities and surrounding suburbs, and the characteristics of those cities inescapably affect the quality of their lives. This book examines the extent to which these Americans use the political process to control the characteristics of life in their metropolises. In addition, this second edition revision places great emphasis on the role of political leaders, while recognising the interdependence between those leaders and various interests in the city.

Originally published in 1984. The authors of this study address a number of major themes related to the analysis of public services: the role of public choice theory, the importance of professors and organisations, the value of neo-Marxist theories and the importance of space. These issues are considered in the context of case studies of school closures, the provision of medical care, the relationships between Federal outlays and presidential politics, the provision of nurseries, demand-making in local government and the fiscal crisis facing many American cities. The subject of public service provision is of great interest not only to political scientists but also to geographers and to sociologists. This book presents a great deal of new thinking and new research from both North America and Britain.

The Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government is an historic undertaking. It contains a wide range of essays that define the important questions in the field, evaluate where we are in answering them, and set the direction and terms of discourse for future work. The Handbook will have a substantial influence in defining the field for years to come. The chapters critically assess both the key works of state and local politics literature and the ways in which the sub-field has developed. It covers the main areas of study in subnational politics by exploring the central contributions to the comparative study of institutions, behavior, and policy in the American context. Each chapter outlines an agenda for future research.

First Published in 1989. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Analyzes the problematic trends facing America's cities and older suburbs and challenges us to put America's urban crisis back on the national agenda.