Suchergebnisse

New regionalism, which emerged during the 1990s, analyzed a wide-ranging series of problems affecting US metropolitan areas & suggested an equally diverse array of regional governance approaches for dealing with them. Nevertheless, many reformers, especially in smaller metropolitan areas, still promote city-county consolidation as the best approach to regional problem solving. This article compares two consolidated city-county governments with two nonconsolidated ones in GA, which has had more merger referenda than any other state. Elite interviews indicate that regional issues are unlikely to play an important role in consolidation campaigns, & consolidation by itself does not guarantee that regional concerns will be addressed. Leaders in consolidated places (particularly Athens) observed that consolidations effect on the political agenda & processes made it much easier to take on regional issues. Nevertheless, successful regionalism will require state action to overcome local inertia or hostility. 2 Tables, 64 References. Adapted from the source document.

Objective.This article uses social movement theory to explain variation in local support for proposed constitutional amendments to ban same‐sex marriage in 22 states during 2004 and 2006.Methods.The analysis uses OLS regression with county‐level data to explain variation in local support for the amendments.Results.Support for the amendments in both years was positively related to the proportion of a county that was evangelical or Republican, but negatively related to its level of education and proportion of Catholics. Amendment support was positively related in only one year to the percentage of a county's population that was professional, young, black, in female‐headed households, and Mormon. Amendment support was negatively related to the concentration of gay organizations in 2006, but positively related to the presence of mega‐churches in 2006.Conclusions.Community characteristics have a substantial effect on levels of support for same‐sex marriage bans, thus reinforcing the utility of cultural explanations of policy decisions.