Municipal Contracting in California: Privatizing with Class

In: Urban affairs quarterly, Volume 20, Issue 3, p. 303-323

Abstract

Historical data are used to support the argument that the popularity of municipal contracting in Los Angeles County (the Lakewood Plan) resulted not from its adoption by local suburban residents seeking more efficient urban service provision, but rather from its use by members of local class organizations in order to create municipal boundaries that would surround and protect their territorial interests. The class position and objectives of political actors involved in 46 incorporation attempts in Los Angeles County provide evidence demonstrating how the conflicts and outcomes of the incorporation process were class based.