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Historical implications of the reform movements
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The fourth chapter of City Politics by Dennis R. Judd & Todd Swanstrom covers the rise of "Reform Politics" with many local governments during the first half of the 1900s as a way to combat the entrenched political machines that took control of many large city governments in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Over the course of the chapter, Judd & Swanstrom quickly cover the history of the "reform movement" with different examples of how the reform movement affected city politics in different areas. I commend the authors' overall work in being able to effectively present the aims of the reform movement and its progression over time. I am especially was appreciative of what seemed to be a very critical analysis of the policies that came out of …show more content…
During the first few pages of the chapter, Judd & Swanstrom quickly touch upon how during the late 18th century, there was a middle and upper class backlash on what many perceived to be a major sense of political corruption that was taking over large urban cities in the United States. The authors quote James Bryce and his belief at the time that "the government of cities is one of the conspicuous failures of the United States," which was a common belief among many people at the time. Nevertheless, another important factor leading the charge for reform politics was the backlash by many upper & middle-class Americans of the rising tide of immigrants moving in urban areas. Most reform political movements during that late 19th and early 20th century time period typically created systematic ways of limiting the power of the lower …show more content…
For example, there is a small "Outtake" section on page 78 that focuses on how "municipal reform was aimed at immigrants", and makes the point that most municipal reforms were designed in a fashion that typically made it harder for poorer people to influence and receive benefits from the local city governments. Another moment Judd & Swanstrom mentioned how delegates to the "First Annual Conference for Good City Government" were "united in the belief that...immigrant constituents had corrupted democratic institutions in the cities." I would have appreciated it if Judd & Swanstrom expanded that "Outtake" section to showcase more examples of how reform politics negatively affected other disenfranchised citizens, such as
The municipal restructuring in Ontario from 1996 to 1999, whether voluntary or involuntary, was the most comprehensive process of municipal reforms since the Baldwin Act of 1849 (Frisken 30). After the election of Harris’ Conservative government in 1995, municipal reform took on a life of its own as it was followed with substantial activity between 1996 and 1999 (Sancton 135-56). This research paper looks to categorize, describe and evaluate the substantial activity that took place between the province and its municipal subordinates. While other papers have argued whether the change of the fiscal relationship was to benefit the province or if the structure of local government had simply become outdated, the issues of why the reforms occurred is not the focus of this research. However, what this paper will evaluate is whether the substantial activity made any long-term changes in the system by outlining the numerous reforms and examining their impact. This paper will begin by assessing the financial reform, which was the starting point for more extensive changes, followed by functional, structural and legislative reforms during 1996 to 1999.
As industrialization caused cites to grow in leaps and bounds, political bosses started to take power. As the 19th Century came to a close, almost every sizable city had a political boss, or at least had one rising to power. Tons of immigrants from every part of the world began to pour into the major cities. Cities have had diversity in the past, but the huge diversity of the American cities was unique.
In this course we have learned that a city's character is "a legacy for seeing, interpreting, exploiting, and transforming its social, cultural and political opportunities as a physical community." How is it possible for a city like Boston to have character? Well, the institutional and cultural continuity along with the resistance and reconstruction of culture has allowed the character of Boston to be defined simply by the underlying idea of conflict. Through J Anthony Lukas' Common Ground and Richard Broadman's Mission Hill and the Miracle of Boston, we can see that the catalyst for this sense of conflict has been social dissentions between classes and races. These dissentions are clearly detailed through both the Urban Renewal plans of Mission Hill in the 1960s and 1970s and the school busing case of 1974.When looking at the character of Boston one must understand the amount of controversy our city has encountered as well as the way they have identified and resolved these crisis's. Through this deduction along with my own personal experience of living in Boston a step towards finding a distinct character of Boston may be possible.
The Progressive Movement that occurred during the early 20th century was a time of major reform in the United States of America. During this time, there was a group of activists that referred to themselves as the Progressives, and they sought to change society for the people. The way that they intended to do this was change through their ideals of democracy, efficiency, regulation, and social justice. With this movement came the election that changed the course of America’s history “…demonstrating a victory for progressive reforms as both Progressive candidates accounted for 75 percent of all the votes” (Bowles). The candidates in this election were Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.
Pacyga, Dominic A. "The Progressive and Not So Progressive City." In Chicago: a biography. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009), 150.
...d to gain his merit in society is done. Developments in the American public life, such as the repercussions of the president’s New Deal, changed the face of city politics to such a degree that Skeffington can no longer garner the votes of the younger generation. His newcomer opponent Kevin McCluskey is a fresh face to the people of the city. A war veteran with good manners plainly beats out the politically experienced Irishman with a taste for bashing the media. The thing is, McCluskey has no political abilities and no experience in governing a group of people, but they voted for him because of his utilization of new technology; Television advertisements. Out with the old, in with the new. After Skeffington’s heart attacks, he leaves behind a city lamenting the loss of an eminent political figure, though at this point, the city no longer needs his kind of politics.
Politics or politicking is a game that is more ostensible and reserved for the political arena; however, metaphorically, much of the political discourse can also be found within organizations. Politics in organizations, then, is design for groups to reconcile differences between interests, conflicts, and power (Morgan, 2006). The case study to be analyze (Cutting Back at City Hall) is one that illustrates all three aspects of interests, conflicts, and power as the City of Smithville, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the International Association of Firefighters (IAF), and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) deliberate the city’s proposed budget.
Political machines were supported by continuing immigration, sustained by patronage, enlarged by wealth, and in the end were weeded out by reformers progress for public rather than private good, and caused by the need for public works and skilled workers, after the population of cities expanded.
Large corporations used this to their advantage. Profit oriented leaders did little to make suitable working conditions. With the aid of Muckrakers, journalists who exposed the underside of American life, the nation began to understand the "evils" of industrialization (599). More and more did Americans escalate their concern for reforms. The reformists promoting the ideals of Progressivism were moralists and championed the ideals of human rights. Progressivism embraced a widespread, many-sided effort after 1900 to build a better soc...
In Plato’s republic, a philosophical account on the kallipolis (the beautiful city) is built on the perspective of Socrates and his discussion between his companions. In the republic, the city in which ones live in depends on the soul and the character of the city one lives in. In this paper the character of human nature and politics will be discussed in how a city is ought to be by the influence of human nature and politics. Firstly, the influence of human nature on politics will be looked at, for example according to Plato on behalf of Socrates; he claims that a just soul creates a just society, where it is human nature to be just, that influences in creating a just political system. Secondly, politics influences human nature, where in the republic when the discussion of guardians starts out between Socrates and the companions, there is political thought discussed between them, where Socrates wants to create the perfect guardians through specific training in all types of skills instituted to creating a perfect protector. Lastly, human nature is human soul if the soul is just the city is going to be just. It is the human nature which has created communities without any political thought put in place; it political thought that forms rules and laws. Thus, human nature is part of the individual understanding of its society that creates an understanding of how one ought to be, which in turns creates rules and laws that is essentially viewed as politics.
Kevin B. Smith, Alan Greenblatt, and John Buntin, Governing states and localities: First Edition (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press), 2005, 95.
Thesis The Progressive Era and the New Deal Era had a significant amount of similarities with policies and programs to reform the American society and improve lives and fight poverty in America. Although the Progressive and New Deal Era had many similarities, there were still differences between them. Both the Progressive and the New Deal Era’s main goal was to improve American society. Both of the Progressive and New Deal’s accomplishments were rooted in the economic depression and the need for change before the era, the Guilded age in the 19th century for the Progressive era, and the Great Depression for the New Deal era. As the Guilded Age was ending, and the Progressive Era was emerging, most American families had to live with the harsh reality of sweatshops, slums, child labor, corruption in government and businesses, disease, and racial prejudice.
Dahl, Robert A. [1961] 2005. Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in an American City. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Bring reason and democracy to bear on capitalist urbanization, 2) Guide state decision making with technical...
Public administration formally became a recognized academic and professional field in the late 19th century. Many public administration scholars contend that the start of public administration becoming a field of study was the 1887 Political Science Quarterly article “The Study of Administration” by a young Woodrow Wilson. (Shafritz, Russell, & Borick, 2011, pg. 28) Woodrow Wilson was classified as being a member of the Progressive Movement. The Progressives were a varied group of politicians, academics, advocates and activists who sought to abolish what they saw as the corrupt practices of the patronage system and to reform the new industrialized society that America had become. They objected to the pervasive corruption of government and sought to do away with the political machines that had become the standard of the time.