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The Political Science Teacher, Volume 1 - Spring 1988

Contents

Page 2 of 3

Other

State and Local Governments

  • The Study of American Local Governance: A Need for More and Better ‘Backyard‘ Scholarship

  • Ronald J. Oakerson
  • Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    30 October 2015, pp. 11-14

  • Occasional references to the old radical teaching that “all politics is local” notwithstanding, American political scientists have by and large treated the study of local politics as a subject of much lesser importance than national politics. The standard introductory course in “American democracy” has a national focus—often it is exclusively national. Briefly, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the study of “urban politics” occupied a more prominent place in the discipline, but interest has waned. The priority concern in both teaching and research continues to be American national government and politics.

    This narrow focus leads to a distorted and truncated view of American democracy. Despite increased nationalization, state and local government has been and remains a basic element in the practice of American politics. The productivity and creativity of democracy in America are outcomes, not simply of a national political process, but of a complex system of governance in which local collective action provides much of the energy and initiative for addressing public problems. A vast amount of political activity in the United States is channeled through state and local institutions, where much of the work of public problem solving is done.

Other

Essays on the 1988 Elections

For the Classroom

Other

For the Classroom

C-SPAN in the Classroom

Other

Resources for Teachers and Students

C-SPAN in the Classroom

Commentary on Curricula

Resources for Teachers and Students

Commentary on Curricula

Advanced Placement in Political Science

Resources for Teachers and Students

Advanced Placement in Political Science

Page 2 of 3