Annexation Policy in Milwaukee

An Historical Institutionalist Approach

Bibliographic Data

ID7975262
AuthorsJoel Rast (0000-0001-8669-256X, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume39
Issue1
Pages55-78
Publication date2007-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-3497 • E-ISSN: 1744-1684
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1057/palgrave.polity.2300079
OpenAlexW1598252071
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited2

Theories of urban politics presume that effective governance in city politics requires coalition building between city officials and resource-rich societal actors. Following World War II, however, the city of Milwaukee pursued a successful annexation program by breaking with powerful organized interests with whom city officials had previously partnered in annexation policy. For a time, annexation policy was driven largely by local government officials acting independently of societal actors. While this period of local government autonomy was temporary, it produced several noteworthy developments in annexation policy that would not have occurred had the city failed to distance itself from organized interests. This article explores the conditions that facilitated this episode of local government autonomy and led to its demise. It suggests that contemporary theories of urban governance would benefit from greater attention to local government capacity and the role of time in shaping and reshaping urban political processes

Annexation · Autonomy · Corporate governance · Demise · Economics · Government (linguistics · Local government · Management · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Urban politics · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Public Administration

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub