The Status of Democratic Values and Procedures in a Changing Urban America
| Author | Robert J. Pranger |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296802100311 |
| Published date | 01 September 1968 |
| Date | 01 September 1968 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
496
THE
STATUS
OF
DEMOCRATIC
VALUES
AND
PROCEDURES
IN
A
CHANGING
URBAN
AMERICA
ROBERT
J.
PRANGER
University
of
Washington
HE
STUDY
of
democracy’s
future
in
American
local
government
-
its
t
procedures
and
values - has
particular
relevance
in
light
of
assertions
by
JL
some
experts,
Edward
C.
Banfield,
Scott
Greer
and
James
Q.
Wilson
among
others,’
that
the
complicated
problems
associated
with
contemporary
urban
life
cannot
be
solved,
and
are
often
aggravated,
by
the
mindless
exercise
of
&dquo;Jack-
sonian&dquo;
or
&dquo;local,&dquo;
&dquo;direct&dquo;
democracy
with
its
insouciant
lust
for
meddlesome
&dquo;participation&dquo;
by
a
sovereign
citizenry.
Such
a
democratic
system,
when
forced
to
vote
bonds
or
approve
governing
bodies
for
subjects
as
technical
as
metropolitan
rapid
transit,
more
likely
will
bungle
than
solve
the
problem.
Further,
other
things
being
equal,
such
mass
participation
tends
to
encourage
common
denomina-
tor
policies:
the
masses
may
patronize
air-conditioned
ballparks
but
they
do
not
subscribe
in
great
numbers
to
fine
symphonies,
masterful
ballet
companies
and
urban
beautification.
In
other
words,
not
all
values
are
entirely
compatible:
pre-
suming
one
values
mass
participation,
then
one
must
sometimes
sacrifice
aesthetics,
economy,
efficiency,
expertise
and
so
on.
Or
at
least,
if
popular
government
is
highly
prized,
then
some
calculus
of
consent
must
be
devised,
much
as
TVA
did
on
a
different
areal
level,
which
will
reduce
urban
politics
from
noise
to
music
so
that
the
metropolis
will
be
&dquo;for
itself&dquo;
instead
of
&dquo;against
itself&dquo;
as
it
orders
civilized
life
in
the
mid-twentieth
century.2
2
Some
of
those
doubting
the
utility
of
popular
government
in
each
and
every
instance
also
assert
that
widespread
participation
need
not
be
feared.
As
a
matter
of
simple
observation,
most
persons
neither
care
to
have
nor
actually
do
have
sophisticated
political
knowledge,
and
they
seldom
participate
in
political
affairs,
especially
in
local
governmental
business.3
Further,
that
bastion
of
grass-roots
NOTE :
I
am
indebted
to
The
Institute
of
Government
and
Public
Affairs,
University
of
Illi-
nois,
for
its
encouragement
during
the
summer
of
1964,
and
especially
to
Professor
Tom
Anton.
1
Scott
Greer,
Governing
the
Metropolis
(New
York:
Wiley,
1962),
pp.
129-30,
speaks
of
the
"strait
jacket
of
democratic
ideology"
and
expresses
this
concern
in
numerous
other
places
in his
volume;
Edward
C.
Banfield
and
James
Q.
Wilson,
City
Politics
(Cam-
bridge:
Harvard
U.
Press
and
M.I.T.
Press,
1963),
pp.
3-4,
hold
that
"the
spread
of
knowledge
about
politics
may
also
reduce
the
amount
of
well-meant
but
often
harmful
interference
by
citizens
in
the
workings
of
political
institutions."
2
See
Robert
C.
Wood,
Metropolis
Against
Itself
(New
York:
Committee
for
Economic
Development,
1959).
3
Registration-voting
data
for
municipal
elections
collected
by
the
Institute
of
Government
at
the
University
of
Illinois
for
the
years
1959
to
1964
relating
to
Illinois
cities
over
25,000
(excluding
Chicago),
indicate
that
the
rate
of
voter
turnout
ran
between
89
per
cent
for
one
election
during
1960
(a
presidential
year)
to
11
per
cent
in
1961
(regular
local
elections
in
Illinois
are
ordinarily
held
in
odd-numbered
years).
Of
26
cities
reporting
for
this
entire
period,
18
gave
figures
for
1961,
the
average
voter
turn-
out
in
these
18
cases
being
49
per
cent,
the
median
figure
50
per
cent
in
a
range
from
70
to
11
per
cent.
However,
Americans
may
have
a
relatively
stronger
feeling
of
obliga-
tion
toward
their
local
communities
than,
say,
Italians
and
Mexicans,
again
reflecting
a
combination
of
Jacksonian
ideology
and
greater
legal
autonomy
for
American
local
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