Seminars in Urban Politics (POLSC 260): Books

Not at SXU

Our traditional image of Chicago-as a gritty metropolis carved into ethnically defined enclaves where the game of machine politics overshadows its ends-is such a powerful shaper of the city’s identity that many of its closest observers fail to notice that a new Chicago has emerged over the past two decades. Larry Bennett here tackles some of our more commonly held ideas about the Windy City-inherited from such icons as Theodore Dreiser, Carl Sandburg, Daniel Burnham, Robert Park, Sara Paretsky, and Mike Royko-with the goal of better understanding Chicago as it is now.

Not at SXU

Around the same time that Richard J. Daley governed Chicago, greasing the wheels of his notorious political machine during a tenure that lasted from 1955 to his death in 1976, Anthony “Dutch” Hamann’s “reform” government centralized authority to similar effect in San Jose. In light of their equally exclusive governing arrangements—a similarity that seems to defy their reputations—Jessica Trounstine asks whether so-called bosses and reformers are more alike than we might have realized.

Not at SXU Library.

Lower Level, Row 42 HN80.C5 N49 2006

For generations, visitors, journalists, and social scientists alike have asserted that Chicago is the quintessentially American city. Indeed, the introduction toThe New Chicago reminds us that "to know America, you must know Chicago." The authors boldly announce the demise of the city of broad shoulders and the transformation of its physical, social, cultural, and economic institutions into a new Chicago.

Bishop Quarter Room--Course Books--(In Library Use Only) JS331 .S49 2004

Inside Urban Politics covers social, economic, political, and governmental conditions of our cities and suburbs today and the proposals to change, reform, and improve them.

Lower Level, Row 46 JS715 .S56 2001

The author challenges and recasts current theories of Regime Politics as he chronicles the dramatic story of the civic wars in the Chicago City Council since the civil war. At the same time, the author provides a window into the broader struggle for democracy and justice.Simpson points out that through analyzing city council floor fights, battles at the ballot box, and street demonstrations, one can begin to see certain patterns of conflict emerge. These patterns demonstrate that beforethe Great Depression, fragmented city councils were dominant. The author also discusses how since the Democrats seized control of Chicago government after the Great Depression, Rubber Stamp City Councils have been predominant, although they have been punctuated by brief eras of council wars and chaos.