Overview
- Brings to life the history of municipal accountability in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
- Presents an accessible historical analysis of public records access and American urban governance through a series of micro-histories
- Appeals to scholars of political science, legal history, urban studies, and public policy
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Table of contents(8 chapters)
Keywords
- Gilded Age
- Progressive Era
- the age of reform in America
- government accountability
- government in the Gilded Age
- American jurisprudence
- William M. Tweed
- right of access to public records
- gadfly
- American democracy
- incorporated municipalities
- municipal government authority
- John F. Dillon
- Thomas M. Cooley
- Home Rule
- People's Party
- Progressive movement
- municipal administration
- municipal politics
- American urban governance
About this book
Reviews
“When we demand so much of our political leaders, how timely it is to explore the issue of accountability. David Ress does this with deft nuance and significant detail. Accountability is not a flat characteristic of democracy but a product in tension, that responds to demands, changes with circumstances, adapts, is challenged and defended and emerges triumphant. David Ress tells the story of municipal accountability through the exploration of several key examples. He asks us to question the relationship between the governed and those who govern. What an important story it is and what an important question to ask.” (Jennifer Clark, Head of School, School of Humanities, University of Adelaide, Australia)
“While accessing government records often is now as easy as clicking on a link, this fascinating new study by award-winning journalist Dave Ress reminds us how hard it once was to pry information out of the State Capitol or the nearby City Hall. In a compelling report that takes readers from New York City’s Tammany Hall to government outposts on the prairies, we learn of the difficult struggles to ensure the public’s right to access what we know now as public information. It’s a lively read of gadflies and foot-dragging governments, how what citizens today take for granted actually came to pass.” (Stephen Famsworth, Professor and Director, Center for Leadership and Media Studies, University of Mary Washington, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
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University of New England, Armidale, Australia
David Ress
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Municipal Accountability in the American Age of Reform
Book Subtitle: The Gadfly at the Counter, 1870–1920
Authors: David Ress
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68258-7
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-68257-0Published: 23 October 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-88572-8Published: 25 August 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-68258-7Published: 09 October 2017
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 128
Topics: US History, Social History, Urban History, US Politics, Urban Studies/Sociology