SLGR Abstract Vol. This article examines the intergovernmental context of local economic development in 237 cities. To arrive at a greater understanding of the context and consequences of local development policy making and management, the authors identify actions that span multiple jurisdictions, sectors, and levels of government. The survey results and supporting case study data indicate that those in local economic development spend a great deal of time arranging and operating in networks, as opposed to hierarchically organizing economic policy objectives through a single government agency.
Evidence indicates high levels of intergovernmental activity, mutual dependence, and joint action.
The emergence of sophisticated regional economic models carries the promise of providing powerful analytic tools to aid policy makers. While sophisticated regional models are potentially a valuable addition to state and local government analytic capacity, they need to be supported by in-house technical expertise and should be part of an open political process in which core assumptions of the model as well as results can be challenged. This article examines changes that local African American officeholders in Florida have experienced from the 1970s to the 1990s. Within the cadre of black officeholders, currently there are more blacks holding elected office, and they are more likely to be female and to have longer tenure in office. The issues of the 1990s have proven to be more difficult for black officials to address, due to certain political and contextual factors influencing their effectiveness.