Power in the City: Clarence Stone and the Politics of Inequality

by Orr, Marion; Johnson, Valerie C.; Pinderhughes, Dianne M.

• ISBN13: 9780700615735
• ISBN10: 0700615733
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-02-26
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas

Summary

A leading theorist in urban politics, Clarence Stone redefined the field with his prize-winning book Regime Politics and is now acknowledged as the father of "regime analysis." Over the course of four decades, he has examined political power and leadership, race and politics, and the politics of social reform in urban settings through writings that have critiqued, debated, and recast large questions about democracy and inequality. This book collects ten classic articles and essays by Stone to create a succinct reader in urban politics. It encompasses theoretical work on urban political power; examinations of political leadership in community politics; considerations of race, class, and political power in Atlanta; and writings on the politics of social reform and urban regeneration. These pieces provide a model for integrating empiricism with theory, offer Stone's own reflections on his theory, and demonstrate the evolution of his thought. The volume also features three new pieces. The editors' introduction provides an insightful assessment of the place of urban politics in political science and an overview of Stone's contributions to the field. Stone himself provides a brand new essay that paints a vision for a new urban agenda, using the regime concept as a base on which to build for the future. And Jennifer Hochschild's concluding chapter assesses Stone's work and lays out alternative perspectives, locating his scholarship within political science and pointing out its many strengths as well as some of its omissions. This collection reminds those interested in discourse about democracy, representation, inequality, justice, and power of the advantages that studying cities can bring tothese important issues. It also serves to redirect urbanists to important foundational aspects of the urban regime framework and will stand as the legacy of the most influential theorist in his field.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface and Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Power and Local Democracy: Clarence N. Stone and American Political Science	p. 1
Power, Social Stratification, and Local Democracy	p. 31
Systemic Power in Community Decision Making: A Restatement of Stratification Theory	p. 33
Social Stratification, Nondecision-Making, and the Study of Community Power	p. 55
Urban Regimes and the Capacity to Govern: A Political Economy Approach	p. 76
Urban Political Leadership	p. 109
Paradigms, Power, and Urban Leadership	p. 111
Political Leadership in Urban Politics	p. 136
Race, Class, and Politics in Atlanta	p. 159
Race, Power, and Political Change	p. 161
Race and Regime in Atlanta	p. 185
Power, Politics, and Urban Social Reform	p. 201
Civic Capacity and Urban Education	p. 203
Powerful Actors Versus Compelling Actions	p. 226
Civic Capacity: What, Why, and from Whence	p. 240
Conclusion: Reflections and Prospects	p. 265
Urban Politics Then and Now	p. 267
Clarence N. Stone and the Study of Urban Politics	p. 317
Contributors	p. 335
Index	p. 337
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