Title: State & local government : fundamentals & perspectives /
Authors: Engel, Michael, 1944-
Publisher: P. Lang,
Year: 1999
Subjects: State governments United States; Local government United States
Abstract: "State and Local Government takes an innovative approach to the study of state and local government by offering readers the means to develop their own points of view on its institutions, processes, and policies. Federalism, governmental structure, the party and electoral systems, and methods of citizen influence are described and then evaluated in the context of the opposing perspectives of conflict and consensus theories. State and local policies on public finance, economic development, welfare, and education are examined and then critiqued from the points of view of conservative, liberal, and socialist ideologies. The result is a book that not only informs readers on the facts of state and local government and politics, but also challenges them to think critically and analytically about those facts, and then helps them to draw conclusions about how well those processes and institutions are working."--BOOK JACKET.
Contents: Theorectical approaches -- The federal system -- The structure of state and local government -- Voting, parties, and elections -- Community power and citizen action -- Gubernatorial politics -- Bureaucratic politics -- Legislative politics -- Idealogy and public policy -- Public finance -- The politics of economic development -- The politics of welfare -- The politics of education.