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Reviews books in which all authors agree that the media are now far more important in political life than ever before, and that this importance is growing and changing at a rapid pace. (JPR)

ABSTRCTUrban systems theory offers a useful and potentially powerful way of analysing public policy and service expenditures, a research field which, in the past, has lacked in general theory and good empirical results. It is hypothesized that just as cities which play an important role in the national urban system provide a wide range of specialized and expensive goods and services in the private sector, so also will they tend to spend heavily on a range of public services and amenities. Following recent theoretical developments, the presence of the headquarters of major companies is used as a measure of the importance of English and Welsh cities in the national urban system, and this measure is related to service expenditures. The results strongly support the hypothesis, and suggest that levels of service expenditure, particularly on what are termed indivisible services, are related to the general characteristics of an urban system, rather than directly to the concentration of business headquarters.

Ur systems theory offers a useful & potentially powerful way of analyzing public policy & service expenditures, a research field which, in the past, has lacked in general theory & good empirical results. It is hypothesized that just as cities that play an important role in the national Ur system provide a wide range of specialized & expensive goods & services in the private sector, so also will they tend to spend heavily on a range of public services & amenities. Following recent theoretical developments, the presence of the headquarters of major companies is used as a measure of the importance of English & Welsh cities in the national Ur system, & this measure is related to service expenditures. Analysis of official data for the UK strongly supports the hypothesis & suggests that levels of service expenditure, particularly on what are termed indivisible services, are related to the general characteristics of an Ur system, rather than directly to the concentration of business headquarters. 5 Tables, 39 References. HA.

Arguments about the optimum size for units of local government often overlook the fact that small units have some considerable drawbacks while large ones have some advantages. By and large the discussion breaks down into two parts; those about size and functional effectiveness, and those about size and democracy. On the first count, it seems that large units are no less efficient and can be a good deal more effective than small ones. On the question of size and democracy, the evidence suggests that large units of government are no less democratic than small ones, and that in some respects they may be more so.