The recent COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted governance. A strong intergovernmental response is critical for stemming the worst damage during the outset of a disaster. Collaborative planning with networks of constituent governments, medical experts, and emergency managers are needed to provide a holistic response to the highly technical and complex issues brought on by the novel coronavirus. This commentary highlights the differences in response by the United States and Australia, provides a comparison of intergovernmental relationships, and sheds light on how these federations vertical and horizontal collaborative efforts were stymied by politics or facilitated by existing intergovernmental forums.
Scholars across the social sciences have shown how economic, social, and political changes are weakening local governments and contributing to rising nonprofit activity in urban politics. But these trends could now add up to a new form of decision-making in some American cities. The convergence of public sector austerity and a burgeoning philanthropic and nonprofit sector have created space for what we call “nonprofit governance.” In some cities, nonprofit leaders can guide urban policy, sometimes with limited input from elected officials or citizens. First, we apply insights from studies in comparative politics to demonstrate how nonprofit leadership can expand, particularly in the context of a weak state. Next, we assess trends in public sector capacity, based on local government employment in Midwestern U.S. cities. We closely examine Detroit and Flint due to dramatic declines in local government capacity and recent public sector crises in both cities, focusing on the role of nonprofits in each. These leading-edge cases allow us to trace the development of nonprofit governance and explore different forms of nonprofit and local government relationships.
Cities use tax increment financing (TIF) to trigger growth in blighted communities. Critics argue that Chicago’s broad conceptualization of “blight” facilitates the designation of TIF districts that do not resemble conventional notions of blight, bolstering their natural ability to generate capital, thereby exacerbating the gap between wealthy and poor minority spaces. This study examines Chicago’s TIF districts to determine whether blight levels and percentage of non-White residents interact to reduce the effectiveness of TIFs measured as the change in the equalized assessed valuation (EAV) of properties. Using composite indices to measure physical and economic blight, the results of a quantile regression analysis indicate that economically blighted TIFs with predominantly non-White populations outperform other districts. These findings run counter to expectations given that TIFs report high rates of growth in property values, yet they remain substantially blighted. This suggests a need to reconsider change in equalized assessed valuation as the measure of TIF effectiveness given that the “growth” in TIFs does not seem to reflect a higher quality of life for residents.
This paper constitutes a follow-up to an argument made during the late fall of 2005 that posited that many of the approaches and responses to sudden natural disasters might be effectively applied to areas experiencing more chronic economic decay. Using census, budgetary, and political data, including an analysis of planning and development documents, the paper addresses the following research questions:•What were the economic and social trajectories of Detroit and New Orleans prior to their respective disasters?•How did the responses to the hurricane impact New Orleans?•Despite the attention given to New Orleans, why do current conditions differ little from Detroit?The findings suggest that Detroit and New Orleans were clearly both highly distressed cities, with large minority populations and significant inequality prior to Katrina, although Detroit’s situation was arguably more severe. Significant media attention and investment in New Orleans appeared to follow in the wake of the hurricane. However, looking at federal and state investment in context suggests that it was not as high as might have been expected and implementation delays may well have lessened its impact. It is not at all clear that the response in New Orleans changed its economic trajectory much beyond that of Detroit, suggesting that the response to sudden disaster might not have aided the slow death of Detroit.
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