Premium
Form of Government and Community Values: The Case of Tuskegee, Alabama
Author(s) -
Watson Douglas J.,
Hassett Wendy L.,
Caver Floun’say R.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.259
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 1555-5623
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-1346.2006.00041.x
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , public administration , political science , sociology , public relations , philosophy , linguistics
Each year, dozens of U.S. communities change or attempt to change their forms of government. The authors argue that the two primary forms of local government are based on different values, identified as paradigms, and that there are groups in most communities that favor one paradigm over the other. When there is enough dissatisfaction in the way the existing form of government is performing, the group that favors the alternate paradigm proposes substantial changes to the existing form or replacement of it by the other form. To illustrate the community dynamics involved in a change of governmental form, the authors present a case study of Tuskegee, Alabama.