Public Policy and Community: Activism and Governance in Texas [Paperback]

Robert H. Wilson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1997

The decentralization of public policy from the federal government to state and local governments offers increased opportunities for ordinary citizens to participate directly in public policymaking. Yet these opportunities may not be equally shared. Due to a variety of factors, low-income citizens have long been denied a meaningful role in the public life and governance of our country.

By contrast, the essays in this volume explore how low-income citizens have successfully affected public policy. The book is built around six case studies, all from Texas, that cover education finance and reform, local infrastructure provision, environmental protection, and indigent health care.

This research illuminates several issues of national importance, including how communities gain standing and recognition for themselves and their issues, how policy agendas are defined, how communities mobilize technical and institutional resources, and how they form coalitions and alliances to accomplish their goals.

Product Details

• Paperback: 313 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292791054
• ISBN-13: 978-0292791053
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,349,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forming civil rights movements in Texas...not impossible!!, December 1, 2002

By 

Robin Orlowski "political activist" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Public Policy and Community: Activism and Governance in Texas (Paperback)

I read this book for an undergraduate public policy class, and found there are a lot more of us in Texas than even I had particularly realized.

Not usually one for case studies (I've seen too many instances where they are used simply to avoid direct discussion of an issue) Wilson takes great pains to select his entries, clearly demonstrating these movements are important because they show how citizens can move goverments, especially those as historically staid as Texas.

Designed under the guise of limiting governmental interference in citizen's daily lives, the part time, twice a year legislature places us at a distinct disadvantage compared to other states. In an era of rapidly normalizing economic and other problems, this form of goverment may prove ultimately inadequate for dealing with 21st century policy realities.

At the same time, he is careful to accord praise on those parts of the current system which do work--certainly including citizen and community participation. Even better, his concept of real citizen participation travels well beyond the rehearsed and sanitized (where goverment only cares if citizen wishes coincidentally match what it intends to do anyways) to champion real empowerment and change.

Even if the process is long and hard (which the studies assure us, it will be) nothing compares to at least going out and attempting to try and change a sittuation for the good of all people. You will come away from this 'textbook' completely mesmerized and invigorated, ready to take on the world yourself.