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Cities and Complexity
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Cities and Complexity
Making Intergovernmental Decisions

First Edition

Volume: 3
Other Titles in:
Planning (General)

December 1998 | 200 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
This book addresses the mismatch between the assumptions of planning professionals and the actual operations of the intergovernmental system.

Basing her work not only on empirical research but also years of personal experience, Christensen presents a new theory of the underlying structure and dynamics of the US intergovernmental system. It is designed to help planners and policy makers clarify the obstacles to effective action on behalf of the public good.

 
Planning in a Complex Intergovernmental System
 
Competing Theories of the US Intergovernmental System
 
Interactions among Governmental Institutions
 
Dimensions Structuring the Intergovernmental System
 
Sectoral Dynamics
Institutionalized Technological Elaboration and Effects on Area Interests

 
 
Delusions of Certainty and Their Consequences for Expectations of Government
 
Conducting Public Policy in Conditions of Uncertainty
 
Conclusions for the Intergovernmental System
 
Conclusions for Decision-Making Practice

". . .successfully untangles the complicated intergovernmental system in the U.S. and suggests ways in which planners could take effective actions within the system on behalf of the public good. . .it is a must-read for planning students, practitioners, and policy makers." 

Sandeep Kumar
Ryerson Polytechnic University

"Christensen's book is an unpretensiously solid, well reasoned, and worthwhile addition to planning theory. Her astute, nuanced view of government is a welcome corrective to the planners' too common view of the 'public sector' as a simple, unitary entity. . ." 

Scott Campbell
University of Michigan

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ISBN: 9780761911654
£81.00