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Gone are the days when the raising and apportioning of municipal monies was a relatively simple task, when ample income could be expected to meet projected needs and also fund a few additional projects. Now local officials are faced with shrinking budgets, tax revolts, decreasing federal support, increasing state and federal regulations--in short, genuine crunches that leave them pondering how sparse resources can ever be stretched to meet the multitude of actual needs. This book stresses the political dimensions of local finance, emphasizing the local, intergovernmental, and private-sector constraints faced by municipal officials in their attempt to provide services while balancing the budget. Integrating the implications of the Reagan administration's new approach to federal spending into their analyses, the authors examine the impact of state regulations on local taxation and debt policies, the relationship between local governments and the municipal bond market, the political economy of New York City's fiscal crisis, and the impact of various tax limitation measures, including California's Proposition 13. They also study the effect of community development grants on local decisionmaking structures and the impact of urban congressional representatives on the allocation of federal grants. Their presentation is aimed especially at graduate and upper-level undergraduate students of urban politics, local finance, state and local government, and intergovernmental relations.

Gone are the days when the raising and apportioning of municipal monies was a relatively simple task, when ample income could be expected to meet projected needs and also fund a few additional projects. Now local officials are faced with shrinking budgets, tax revolts, decreasing federal support, increasing state and federal regulations--in short, genuine crunches that leave them pondering how sparse resources can ever be stretched to meet the multitude of actual needs. This book stresses the political dimensions of local finance, emphasizing the local, intergovernmental, and private-sector constraints faced by municipal officials in their attempt to provide services while balancing the budget. Integrating the implications of the Reagan administration's new approach to federal spending into their analyses, the authors examine the impact of state regulations on local taxation and debt policies, the relationship between local governments and the municipal bond market, the political economy of New York City's fiscal crisis, and the impact of various tax limitation measures, including California's Proposition 13. They also study the effect of community development grants on local decisionmaking structures and the impact of urban congressional representatives on the allocation of federal grants. Their presentation is aimed especially at graduate and upper-level undergraduate students of urban politics, local finance, state and local government, and intergovernmental relations.

Issues related to "post-national democracy" are most clearly delineated in the context of a politically & economically integrating Europe. Post-national democracy in Europe should be conceptualized as an ongoing evolutionary process of democratization, with institutional arrangements being the contested focal point of that process. The absence of a demos will not stop the demands for greater citizen involvement in the governance of the European Union, an involvement which would increase the EU's legitimacy. The EU's lack of a common political community, however, will prevent it from developing a traditional government. The EU therefore will be characterized by governance without the kind of government found in national democracies. Nonetheless, an original executive institution will be constructed. The executive of the future will carry out many (but not all) of the key functions of an executive without, however, benefiting from the kind of legitimacy that national government executives enjoy. In institutional terms, the character of the executive will render European post-national democracy distinctive, & the electoral link between the citizenry & that executive will be the most contested issue as democratization proceeds. Institutional originality & innovation are likely, therefore, to continue to characterize the process of European integration. 106 References. Adapted from the source document.

Debates about institution–building within the European Union focus on how national power and transnational representation and accountability should be organized institutionally within the context of regionalism. An "institutional balance" allows the EU to benefit from administrative capacity and the representation of both national executives and national electorates while not being transformed into either a transnational political system or a traditional federation. The Treaty of Nice laid the groundwork for enlargement by re–examining issues of representation that had previously been accepted as givens. In so doing, the member states made clear that the evolution of the EU was going to be subject to uncertainty and institutional fluidity.

Debates about institution building within the European Union focus on how national power & transnational representation & accountability should be organized institutionally within the context of regionalism. An "institutional balance" allows the EU to benefit from administrative capacity & the representation of both national executives & national electorates while not being transformed into either a transnational political system or a traditional federation. The Treaty of Nice laid the groundwork for enlargement by reexamining issues of representation that had previously been accepted as givens. In so doing, the member states made clear that the evolution of the EU was going to be subject to uncertainty & institutional fluidity. 30 References. Adapted from the source document.

Analyses of the 'shrinking state' tend to focus on the pressures being felt by the welfare state. The 'state' is viewed as a provider of social benefits and as redistributing wealth. To the extent these functions are being challenged the state is perceived as being 'rolled back' by the forces of the market. Yet the state is also involved in 'building' markets. This function, overshadowed in the past, has now become an important state activity. Such activity, however, is carried out by state actors different from those involved in the provision of social benefits and the evolution of the welfare state. Majoritarian institutions are largely responsible for the latter while non‐majoritarian institutions oversee theformer. Although the balance of power among different types of state actors has shifted, the power of public authority has not necessarily been 'rolled back' by the market.