Shadow Government: The Hidden World of Public Authorities - And How They Control Over $1 Trillion of Your Money [Paperback]

Donald Axelrod (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1992

"In power, affluence, and assets, public authorities rival the largest state and local governments and commercial banks in the United States. They borrow more billions of dollars than state and local governments combined. They have run up a debt that is second only to that of the United States government itself. …In what amounts to a quiet revolution we now have two governments side by side: the visible general government and the shadow government of public authorities." —from Shadow Government Advance praise for Shadow Government… "Most Americans have had direct experience with public authorities through paying tolls on turnpikes, paying water and sewer charges, and the like. But few are even dimly aware of the pervasiveness of public authorities. …Now Donald Axelrod has produced a wide-ranging examination of the history, evolution, and status of public authorities; his book is a searching description of their penetration into our lives. Passionately written, it is essential reading." —Herman B. Leonard Baker Professor of Public Management Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University "[Shadow Government] sheds light on government-sponsored authorities which flout constitutional, budget, and sound financial restraints. It provides a thorough examination of the rise and virtually uncontrolled proliferation of all kinds of enterprises that use government powers, without voter control." — Ben Weberman Columnist, Forbes "Donald Axelrod’s…findings make fascinating and disturbing reading. This book should be read by every citizen who is concerned with fiscally sound and accountable public institutions." —Harold Seidman Senior Fellow; National Academy of Public Administration

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A wide range of services are provided to the public by almost invisible governments called special districts, government corporations, and public authorities. These "shadow governments" have been neglected by scholars; and the public is, at best, only dimly aware of them. Yet there are more governments of this type (approximately 35,000) in the United States than there are municipalities and counties combined. While some of these little-known governments are doing commendable jobs, academician Axelrod passionately argues that, as a whole, they are insufficiently responsible to the public and its elected officials and that through their reliance on fees and service charges, rather than taxes, they are shifting the burden of governmental finance from those best able to pay to the poor. Axelrod's book is not the long-awaited comprehensive analysis of these governments, but it deserves the attention of political scientists, economists, and informed lay readers.
-Thomas H. Ferrell, Univ. of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Here, Axelrod, director of the Public Enterprise Project of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, argues that public authorities (government corporations) have grown to such an extent that they now constitute a ``shadow government'' whose activities are largely beyond electoral control. Since the Depression and the New Deal, Axelrod says, American governments--federal, state, and local--have been expected to take responsibility for providing an increasing variety of necessary services: highways, hospitals, transportation, schools, and so on. At the same time, such programs have frequently been obstructed by constitutional restrictions on government powers to raise and spend revenue, and by electoral hostility to taxes. The solution seized on by many ambitious or hard-pressed politicians, the author notes, has been to assign the provision of public services to politically independent public authorities. Financed by fees rather than taxes, their services are thus kept off government budgets. But the real price we pay, Axelrod argues, is a diminution of democracy, with public authorities often tending to elude any effective scrutiny by elected officials. In many cases, he contends, they are mismanaged and corrupt, providing little more than a convenient pork-barrel for wealthy private interests. Nevertheless, Axelrod recognizes that public authorities serve many essential needs; the issue is how to make them more accountable. An excellent final chapter contains several suggestions along these lines--but, ironically, also reveals a serious defect in the book's organization: It is only here that the emphasis shifts from the misdeeds of authorities to what turns out to be, for him, the fundamental problem--the restrictions imposed by obsolete constitutions. Indeed, the author might have looked deeper still: at a contradictory political culture that demands public services but refuses to pay for them. Clear, persuasive, and readable, though incomplete and misleadingly organized. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 1 edition (April 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047152767X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471527671
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,072,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars This book will open your eyes to a behind the scenes world of shady government financial dealings. A must read!, July 30, 2010

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This review is from: Shadow Government: The Hidden World of Public Authorities - And How They Control Over $1 Trillion of Your Money (Paperback)

Most people don't have a clue how the perceived boring municipal finance world works. Well, read this book. The municipal finance world is anything but boring! Welcome to yield burning, escrow churning, black box issues, pay-to-play, bid rigging, all done as "God's work" or "for the good of mankind", but the only common factor is that the taxpayer is ripped off. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in discovering the truth about shadow agencies and quasi-government branches that hold trillions of dollars and steal from the public day in and day out without fear of prosecution.