Seeking Effective Power

To many, mayors are the most familiar elected officials. Unlike federal representatives, mayors often directly coordinate community services like trash removal, policing, and in some cases oversight of public schools. Despite the seeming transparency of mayoral duties, bottom-line judgments about mayors' performance are political, and, unlike profit margins in business, essentially aesthetic. The public does not evaluate mayoral performance in accordance with "objective" or "rational" criteria; rather, its judgment has more do with values than "facts." In addition, mayors' performances, including their credibility and ability to implement agendas, has as much (if not more) to do with local politics as with their political orientation. I will address these two points in turn.J. Phillip Thompson is associate professor in the Department of Urban Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ([email protected]). He is author of a forthcoming book on black mayors (Oxford University Press). He was director of Mayor's Office of Housing Coordination and deputy general manager of the New York Housing Authority in the administration of Mayor David Dinkins (1990–93

Business · Political science · Power (physics · Public relations · Homelessness and Social Issues · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Public Administration · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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• Resource Exchange in Urban Governance

  Open Access•Caelesta Poppelaars•Urban Affairs Review•2007

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• How to Reform a Reform Coalition

  Open Access•Christopher Ansell, Chris Ansell et al.•Policy Studies Journal•2009

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• The Captive or the Broker? Explaining Public Agency–Interest Group Interactions

  Open Access•Caelesta Braun•Governance•2012

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• For what it's worth

  Manuel Pastor, Chris Benner et al.•Community Development•2011

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• Black Corona

  Steven Gregory•Black Corona•2011

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• Politics in Black and White

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• The Bridge over the Racial Divide

  William Julius Wilson•Bridge over the Racial Divide•2019

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• Black Baltimore

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• Facing Up to the American Dream

  Alford A Young, Alford A Young Jr et al.•Contemporary Sociology A Journal…•1996

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• Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement

  Cynthia Griggs Fleming, Barbara Ransby•The Journal of Southern History•2004

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• Is there an Empowerment Life Cycle

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• Dismantling the Federal Safety Net

  Open Access•Demetrios Caraley•Political Science Quarterly•1996

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• Neighborhood Poverty and African American Politics

  Open Access•Cathy J Cohen, Cathy Cohen et al.•American Political Science Review•1993

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• The Dynamics of Racial Residential Segregation

  Camille Zubrinsky Charles•Annual Review of Sociology•2003

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• Deviance as Resistance

  Open Access•Cathy J Cohen, Cathy Cohen•Du Bois Review Social Science…•2004

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