While most research on urban regimes examines cities with effective coalitions between business and government, there is growing recognition that such coalitions are not universal. Rast has suggested taking a multidimensional approach towards power, whereby the social-production model is best suited for understanding cities with strong regimes and the social-control model is more fitting for cities with weak or nonexistent regimes. This study illustrates how such an approach can be used to understand the postwar politics of Fargo, North Dakota. Fargo seemed to have all the components necessary for the creation of an urban regime, yet a coherent governing coalition was slow in forming despite the perceived need for downtown redevelopment. It took the prospect of federal urban renewal funds to change the power relationships within Fargo and allow regime formation. However, implementation of the urban renewal projects proved difficult and ultimately led to the regime’s collapse.
City of Fargo Urban Renewal Agency Board of Commissioners. ( 1968, December 5). Meeting Transcripts, p. 2. North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives, Fargo.
2.
Hershel Lashkowitz. (1968, December 20). "Statement of Mayor Lashkowitz," p. 2. North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives, Fargo.
3.
Farahnaz Kourourian, "Downtown Fargo 1960-1982" (master’s thesis, North Dakota State University, Fargo, 1982).
4.
David L. Imbroscio, "Overcoming the Neglect of Economics in Urban Regime Theory,"Journal of Urban Affairs25 (2003): 271-84.
5.
Stephen L. Elkin, City and Regime in the American Republic (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1987), 18.
6.
David L. Imbroscio, "Reformulating Urban Regime Theory: The Division of Labor between State and Market Reconsidered,"Journal of Urban Affairs20 (1998 ): 233-48.
7.
K. Mossberger and G. Stoker, "The Evolution of Regime Theory: The Challenge of Conceptualization,"Urban Affairs Review36 (2001): 810-35.
8.
C. Stone, M.E. Orr, and D. Imbroscio, "The Reshaping of Urban Leadership in US Cities: A Regime Analysis," in Urban Life in Transition, ed. M. Gottdiener and C. G. Pickvance ( Newbury Park, CA: Sage), 222-39.
Clarence Stone , Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946-1988 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1989), 229.
11.
Ronald Vogel, "The Local Regime and Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly 4 (1990): 101-12; C. Horan, "Coalition, Market, and State," in Reconstructing Urban Regime Theory, ed. M. Lauria (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1997), 149-70; Mossberger and Stoker, "Evolution of Regime Theory"; and H. Whitt Kilburn, "Explaining U.S. Urban Regimes: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis," Urban Affairs Review 39, no. 5 (2004): 633-51.
12.
Nicholas Bauroth , "Regime Approaches to Obscenity Policy: 1960s to 1980s,"Journal of Urban Affairs, 20 no. 4 (1998): 395-417; and Jeffrey Hening, Ruchard Hula, Marion Orr, and Desiree Pedescleaux , "School Reform in Baltimore: Race, Jobs, and Politics," in Changing Urban Education, ed. Clarence N. Stone (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998), 93-117.
13.
Clarence Stone , "Urban Regimes and the Capacity to Govern: A Political Economy Approach,"Journal of Urban Affairs15, no. 1 (1993): 1-28.
14.
Stone, Orr, and Imbroscio, "The Reshaping of Urban Leadership in US Cities," 224.
15.
P. Kantor, H.V. Savitch, and S.V. Haddock, "The Political Economy of Urban Regimes: A Comparative Perspective,"Urban Affairs Review32, no. 3 (1997): 348-77.
16.
Marion Orr , "Urban Regimes and Human-Capital Policies: A Study of Baltimore,"Journal of Urban Affairs14 (1992): 173-87.
17.
Stone, Orr, and Imbroscio, "The Reshaping of Urban Leadership in US Cities," 224.
18.
P. Burns and M.O. Thomas, "The Failure of the Nonregime: How Katrina Exposed New Orleans as a Regimeless City,"Urban Affairs Review41 (2006): 517-27; and Joel Rast, "Governing the Regimeless City: The Frank Zeidler Administration in Milwaukee, 1948-1960,"Urban Affairs Review42, no. 1 (2006): 81-112.
19.
Stone, "Urban Regimes and the Capacity to Govern."
20.
Stoker, Gerry, "Regime Theory and Urban Politics," in Theories of Urban Politics , ed. David Judge, Gerry Stoker, and Hal Wolman ( Newbury: Sage, 1995), 54-71.
21.
Sanders, Heywood T, "The Politics of Development in Middle-sized Cities: Getting From New Haven to Kalamazoo," in The Politics of Urban Development, ed. Clarence N. Stone and Heywood T. Sanders ( Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1987), 182-198.
22.
Ibid.
23.
Mossberger and Stoker, "Evolution of Regime Theory," 816.
24.
Ibid., 815.
25.
Rast, "Governing the Regimeless City," 81.
26.
Ibid., 81, 87.
27.
Ibid.
28.
Ibid.
29.
Ibid., 103.
30.
Ibid., 104.
31.
Stone, Regime Politics; and Rast, "Governing the Regimeless City."
32.
David B.Danbom, GoingIt Alone: Fargo Grapples with the Great Depression (Minneapolis : Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2005).
33.
North Dakota State Data Center. ( 2007). Total Population for North Dakota Cities: 1920-2000, Using United States Decennial Census Data. http://www.ndsu.edu/sdc/data/census/NDcities1920to2000.pdf .
34.
Londell D. Pease , "An Analysis of the Comprehensive Planning Process in Fargo, North Dakota" (master’s thesis, North Dakota State University, Fargo, 1991).
35.
Salem, Hanzada , Fargo Downtown: An Overview of the City Role - Masters Thesis (Fargo: North Dakota State University, 1982).
36.
I.S. Shattuck , Fargo Master Plan (City of Fargo, North Dakota, 1952).
37.
"Business Slate Seeks City Offices." (1946, March 4). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
38.
"A Greater Fargo for Us All." (1946, March 13). Fargo Forum, p. 2.
39.
"Dawson and Ticket Win Record Poll." (1946, April 3). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
40.
Le Roy F.Harlow, Without Fear or Favor ( Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1977).
41.
Ibid.
42.
"Rejects Plan by Margin of 620 Ballots." (1953 , March 4). Fargo Forum, p. A1.
43.
North Dakota Revised Code. (1943). 40-1005. Powers of City Manager.
44.
Harlow, Without Fear or Favor.
45.
Ibid.
46.
Kourourian, "Downtown Fargo 1960-1982."
47.
Ibid.
48.
Gifford Herron, "Fargo Lawyer Made First Moves for Urban Renewal,"Fargo Forum, February 24, 1960, p. B29.
49.
Tim Holzkamm, The History and Growth of the City of Fargo (Fargo, ND : Fargo Historic Preservation Commission, 2001).
50.
Shattuck, Fargo Master Plan; and City of Fargo. (1958). City Parking Survey . City of Fargo, North Dakota.
51.
Lloyd W. Sveen, "Roosevelt Grade School Second ‘Firetrap,’"Fargo Forum, April 12, 1948, p. 1.
52.
"Sewer System Inadequate." (1946, March 26). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
53.
"Big Paving Job Ahead." (1946, March 27). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
54.
"City Needs New Buildings." (1946, March 28). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
55.
City of Fargo, ND. (1939). Report on the Development of a Six-Year Program for Municipal Improvements.
56.
Ibid.
57.
"City Needs New Buildings."
58.
Shattuck, Fargo Master Plan.
59.
Gerald D.Anderson, "The R-1 Project: A History of Urban Renewal in Fargo, North Dakota" (master’s thesis, North Dakota State University, Fargo, 1966).
60.
Danbom, Going It Alone.
61.
"A Quarter Century of Progress." (1956). North Dakota Taxpayer23, no. 3.
62.
Robert Johnson , History of the North Dakota Taxpayers’ Association (Moorhead, MN: Concordia College, 1942).
63.
Danbom, Going It Alone.
64.
North Dakota Century Code. (2007). Chapter 21-03: Bonds .
65.
City of Fargo, Report on the Development of a Six-Year Program for Municipal Improvements.
66.
"School Building Bonds Okayed by 80% Vote." ( 1948, April 21). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
67.
"Property Owners’ Group Assails City’s Plan for Fee System of Garbage Collection." (1948, March 29). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
68.
"Property Owners Ask Poll on Garbage Fee Proposal." ( 1948, April 5). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
69.
"Vote for Dunn and Dahlgren for City Commission." ( 1948, April 5). Fargo Forum, p. 6.
70.
"Fargo Elects Hagan, Dunn, Dahlgren." (1948, April 7). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
71.
The results were derived from accounts published in the Fargo Forum newspaper because neither the city of Fargo nor Cass County has maintained an official record of precinct totals for elections held during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
72.
City of Fargo, ND. (1979). 1979 Fargo Housing Condition Survey.
73.
"Both Sides Planning Stepped-Up Campaigns for City Manager Special Election March 3." (1953, February 22). Fargo Forum, p. A1.
74.
"Foes Blast City Manager Regime Here," (1953 February 27). Fargo Forum, p. A1.
75.
"Rejects Plan by Margin of 620 Votes."
76.
Ibid.
77.
Herron, "Fargo Lawyer Made First Moves for Urban Renewal."
78.
Legislative Research Committee. ( 1951). Laws Passed At the Thirty-Second Session of the Legislative Assembly of the State of North Dakota. Bismarck, North Dakota: The Legislative Research Committee, p. 465.
79.
Ibid.
80.
Bellush, Jewel and Murray Hausknecht, Urban Renewal: People, Politics, and Planning-- A Reader on the Political Controversies and Sociological Realities of Revitalizing the American City (New York City: Doubleday1967).
81.
Herron, "Fargo Lawyer Made First Moves for Urban Renewal"; and Gifford Herron, "‘New Leaf’ for Fargo Progress Turned in 1948,"Fargo Forum, February 24, 1960, p. A4.
82.
Legislative Research Committee. (1955). Laws Passed at the Thirty-fourth Session of the Legislative Assembly of the State of North Dakota. Bismarck, ND: Legislative Research Committee.
83.
Ibid.
84.
Legislative Research Committee. (1957). Laws Passed at the Thirty-fifth Session of the Legislative Assembly of the State of North Dakota. Bismarck, ND: Legislative Research Committee.
85.
"Commission Candidates Give Views" (1954, March 31). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
86.
Ibid., 1.
87.
"Fluoridation Campaign Gains in Fervor as Election Nears." ( 1954, March 14). Fargo Forum, p. 14.
88.
"Mayor-Elect Thanks Voters for Victory." (1954, April 7). Fargo Forum, p. 18.
89.
Sarah Coomber, Fargo Forum, October 10, 1999, p. E1.
90.
Anderson, "The R-1 Project."
91.
Earl E. Stewart, "A Survey and Planning Application for the South Front Street Urban Renewal Area Fargo, North Dakota" (Fargo, ND: City Planning Commission, 1955), R-104.
92.
"Public Reaction against Proposed Main Avenue Project." (1955 ). Fargo Forum.
93.
Anderson, "The R-1 Project."
94.
"Urban Renewal Agency Named by City." (1956, May 1). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
95.
Legislative Research Committee (1951).
96.
"Vote Will Decide if Fargo Gets Needed Building." ( 1956, April 29). Fargo Forum, p. C1.
97.
Herron, "‘New Leaf’ for Fargo Progress Turned in 1948."
98.
"Mayor Proposes Committee to Scan City Tax Structure." ( 1957, March 6). Fargo Forum, p. 16.
99.
Herron, "‘New Leaf’ for Fargo Progress Turned in 1948."
100.
"Years of Study Back Up Auditorium Site Decision." ( 1956, May 11). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
101.
"Fargo’s New Memorial Auditorium City Hall." ( 1956, May 5). Fargo Forum, p. 3.
102.
Fargo Chamber of Commerce. ( 1963, October 20). 1963 Fargo Chamber of Commerce Annual Report . Fargo Forum, attachment.
103.
"Vote Will Decide if Fargo Gets Needed Buildings."
104.
"OK of Bonds Only First Step in Fargo’s Big Project." (1956, May 20). Fargo Forum, p. A4.
105.
"Vote No on Civic Center Extravaganza." (1956 , May 11). Fargo Forum, p. 6.
106.
"Auditorium Would Meet Manifold Needs for Fargo." ( 1956, May 13). Fargo Forum, p. C8.
107.
"Fargo, Clay Voters Approve $4¼ Million for Buildings." (1956, May 16). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
108.
Holzkamm, History and Growth of the City of Fargo.
109.
City of Fargo, 1979 Fargo Housing Condition Survey.
110.
"Renewal Agency Critic Says He’ll Go before Commission." (1957, March 12). Fargo Forum, p. A1; and "Citizens, Renewal Agency Discuss "Misunderstanding." (1957, April 3). Fargo Forum, p. E.
111.
"Urban Renewal Plan for Fargo Tied Up by Restraining Order." (1957, April 9). FargoForum, p. A1.
112.
"Berry Building to Be Torn Down." (1960, September 21). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
113.
Hanzada S. E. Salem, "Fargo Downtown: An Overview of the City Role" (master’s thesis, North Dakota State University , Fargo, 1982).
114.
Ibid.
115.
"Fargo Taxpayers Group Will Try to Cut Taxes." ( 1961, February 4). FargoForum, p. A1.
116.
"More about Your Increasing Tax $$’s." ( 1961, February 7). Fargo Forum, p. A10.
117.
"Spectators at Meeting Raucous." (1961, February 8). Fargo Forum, p. A1.
118.
"Relocation 2 Years Off for Main Ave. Renewal." ( 1961, December 24). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
119.
"Renewal Area Signals Results in Complaints." ( 1961). Fargo Forum.
120.
"Fargo Commissioners to Ask Urban Renewal Bill Changes." ( 1961, February 8). Fargo Forum, p. 1; and "Sales Tax, Main Ave. Referrals Said Due." (1963, June 6). Fargo Forum, p. 1.
121.
"McCarney Awaits Deadline for Filing of Referral Petitions." (1963, June 5). Fargo Forum, p 26.
122.
Jim Meeker , "All Five Measures Beaten,"Fargo Forum, 1963, p. 1.
123.
"City to Explore ‘All Avenues’ of Financing Renewal." (1963, July 21). Fargo Forum, p. C-1.
124.
"Local Vote Now Possible on Fargo’s Urban Renewal." ( 1963, August 11). Fargo Forum, p. C4; and Legislative Research Committee (1957).
125.
"Citizens Group for Urban Renewal." (1963, August 29). Attendance sheet. North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives.
126.
Taxpayers United. (1963, September 13). Attendance sheet. North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives.
127.
"Main Ave. Plan Wins by 851." (1963, October 23). Fargo Forum, p. A1.
128.
"Group to Seek Voter Approval of Renewal." (1963, September 12). Fargo Forum, p. 1; and Taxpayers United Committee. ( 1963, October). "Public Benefits from the Urban Renewal Project."North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives.
129.
"How Does Community Development Affect Your Taxes?" (1963, October 16). Fargo Forum, p. 22.
130.
Jerry Ruff, "Argument Refuted That Property Owners Reap a Profit in Renewal,"Fargo Forum, October 17, 1963, p. 4.
131.
"Group Formed to Fight Urban Renewal Levy." (1963, October 3). Fargo Forum, p. 17.
132.
"‘Vote No’ Group Says it Gets No John Birch Funds." (1963, October 17). Fargo Forum, p. 17.
133.
"Urban Renewal Said Not the American Way." (1963 , October 16). Fargo Forum, p. 2.
134.
"Vote No on Urban Renewal." (1963, October 16). Fargo Forum, p. 8.
135.
"Main Ave. Plan Wins by 851."
136.
Holzkamm, History and Growth of the City of Fargo.
137.
Salem, "Fargo Downtown."
138.
Board of Commissioners, City of Fargo Urban Renewal Agency."Urban Renewal Benefits All Tax Payers."Fargo Forum, p. C5.
139.
Earl E. Stewart. (1963, November 14). Letter from Executive Director Earl E Stewart. North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives .
140.
Hershel Lashkowitz , "Letter to Mr. Fred Johnson," Minneapolis Tribune," December 20, 1965.
141.
City of Fargo Urban Renewal Agency Board of Commissioners. (1966, October 24). Special Meeting Transcripts. North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives.
142.
"Gateway Awarded Renewal Project on Main Avenue." ( 1967, April 26). Fargo Forum, p. A1.
143.
Ibid.
144.
City of Fargo Urban Renewal Agency Board of Commissioners. (1968, January 18). Meeting Transcripts. North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives.
145.
M. Danny Wall. (1969, March 11). Letter from Executive Director M. Danny Wall. North Dakota State University : Institute for Regional Studies archives.
146.
Lashkowitz, "Statement."
147.
"West Acres-The Man and His Dream." (1972, August 2). Fargo Forum, p. D1.
148.
"West Acres: $15 Million Bazaar on the Prairie." ( 1972, August 1). Fargo Forum, p. E10.
149.
"Familiar Fargo Business Firms Well Represented." ( 1972, August 1). Fargo Forum, p. C7.
150.
City of Fargo Urban Renewal Agency Board of Commissioners. (1969, March 28). Meeting Transcripts . North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives.
151.
City of Fargo Urban Renewal Agency Board of Commissioners. (1970, December 4). Meeting Transcripts. North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives.
152.
City of Fargo Urban Renewal Agency Board of Commissioners. (1971, March 30). Meeting Transcripts . North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives.
153.
"Three F-M Men Added by Gateway." (1971, October 19). Fargo Forum, p. A1.
154.
City of Fargo Urban Renewal Agency Board of Commissioners. (1971, September 10). Meeting Transcripts. North Dakota State University: Institute for Regional Studies archives.
155.
"Fargo Commission to Replace Urban Renewal, Housing Units." (1976, February 25). Fargo Forum, p. A1.
156.
Stone, "Urban Regimes and the Capacity to Govern."
157.
Ibid., 18.
158.
Sanders (1987).
159.
North Dakota State Data Center, Total Population for North Dakota Cities: 1920-2000.
160.
"A Quarter Century of Progress."
161.
Danbom, Going It Alone.
162.
Rast, "Governing the Regimeless City."
163.
Stone, Regime Politics, 229
164.
Rast, "Governing the Regimeless City."
165.
Dahl defined pluralism as "a system dominated by many different sets of leaders, each having access to a different combination of political resources" (Robert A. Dahl, Who Governs?: Democracy and Power in an American City [New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1961], 86). Interactions between these leaders are part of a continual process of producing consensus within the political system. Thus, Mayor Lee did not simply force his redevelopment projects upon New Haven. Instead, he and other leaders negotiated with one another, recognized shared norms and values, and applied their resources towards a common goal. Dahl ultimately saw pluralism as a central component of political stability. Without consensus, though, pluralism can become a free-for-all in which various groups compete for limited resources: the City of Fargo lacked an underlying consensus for local elites to unite around, which led to repeated shifts between an activist agenda and a low taxes approach. Rast noted this side to pluralism in his multidimensional approach to power. Rast also believed that Dahl took his "line of argument too far by concluding that the high costs of social control result in democratically governed communities and societies" (Rast, "Governing the Regimeless City," 101).
166.
Rast, "Governing the Regimeless City," 103.
167.
Ibid.
168.
Stone, "Urban Regimes and the Capacity to Govern."
169.
Stone, Regime Politics, 227.
170.
Ibid., 227.
171.
Ibid.
172.
Ibid., 228.
173.
Ibid., 228.
174.
Institute for Regional Studies. ( 2007). "Archives: Fargo Urban Renewal Agency Meeting Minutes Series, 1956-1974."Fargo: North Dakota State University.
175.
Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Agency. ( 1976, August 31). "Physical Progress Report to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Urban Renewal Program."Fargo, ND: Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Agency.
176.
Stan Cowan, "Fargo Family Relocation Plan Model for 10 States,"Fargo Forum, February 24, 1960, p. A13.
