Tense Commandments: Federal Prescriptions and City Problems

(Paperback)

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Description

During the 1990s, dozens of large US cities continued to lose population, as jobs and people moved to the suburbs. Despite widespread urban revitalization and renewal, one fact remains unmistakable: when choosing where to live and work, Americans prefer the suburbs to the cities. Most of the underlying causes of the urban predicament are familiar: disproportionate poverty, stiff city tax rates, unsatisfactory public services and a cultural preference for the suburban way of life. Less recognized is the distinct possibility that sometimes the regulatory policies of the federal government - the rules and rulings imposed by its judges, bureaucrats and lawmakers - further disadvantage the cities, ultimately burdening their ability to attract residents and businesses. In "Tense Commandments", Pietro Nivola encourages renewed reflection on the suitable balance between national and local domains. He examines an array of directive or supervisory methods by which federal policymakers narrow local autonomy and complicate the work urban governments are supposed to do. Nivola includes case studies of six cities: Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Reviews

"... a impressive and quite thoughtful survey and analysis of the modern-day phenomenon of exodus from city life to the suburbs, in spite of ongoing and often expensive efforts at urban revitalization.... a strongly recommended addition to Urban Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists." Midwest Book Review, 1/1/2003

"In Tense Commandments, Pietro Nivola provides a brief but deeply informed overview of modern regulatory federalism, or unfunded mandates." Alan Altshuler, Harvard University, Journal of the American Planning Association, 9/1/2003

"... well documented study of how federal institutions in the United States have imposed regulations on state and local governments over the last 40 years.... His book provides further evidence of the ability of central governments, legislatures and courts to impose, almost by stealth, burdens and norms on sub-national governments." Mike Goldsmith, University of Salford, Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Book Reviews, 1/1/2003

"This valuable commentary on contemporary federalism and intergovernmental policy is well documented... Highly recommended." W.C. Johnson, Bethel College (MN), CHOICE, 6/1/2005

Author Bio

Pietro S. Nivola is a vice president of the Brookings Institution, where he is the director of Governance Studies. Among his previous books are Tense Commandments: Federal Prescriptions and City Problems (Brookings, 2002) and Agenda for the Nation, coedited with Henry J. Aaron and James M. Lindsay (Brookings, 2003).