Circumstances surrounding the 1997 city dissolution vote in Miami were ideal for establishing a metropolitan government, based on arguments from the traditional urban politics literature. Yet it did not happen. How did the issue make it onto the public agenda but fail to be adopted? The author argues that changes in metropolitan governance need to be understood as the outcomes of an agenda-setting process and not solely based on the distribution of winners and losers, as suggested by the public-choice/metropolitan reform literature. The Miami case clearly illustrates the importance of focusing events, a skilled policy entrepreneur, and timing of events as interest fades and the window of opportunity closes. It also illustrates the power of a policy image to trigger emotional attachments that can mobilize inattentive publics.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Baumgartner, F. , and B. Jones. 1993. Agendas and instability in American politics. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
2.
Bish, R.1971. The public economy of metropolitan areas. Chicago: Rand McNally.
3.
Bish, R. , and V. Ostrom. 1973. Understanding urban government: Metropolitan reform reconsidered. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute.
4.
Branch, K.1996. Miami lawyer defeats sole black commissioner. Miami Herald, 15 November.
Cobb, R. , and M. Ross. 1997. Agenda setting and the denial of agenda access. In Cultural strategies of agenda denial, edited by R. Cobb and M. Ross, 1-24. Lawrence: Univ. Press of Kansas.
12.
Fiedler, T.1996a. Super city to Miami’s rescue: It makes a lot of sense to merge with the county. Miami Herald, 17 November.
13.
Fiedler, T.1996b. To save Miami, let’s kill it. Miami Herald, 5 December.
14.
Fiedler, T.1997. Miami’s financial life depends on merger with Dade. Miami Herald, 16 January.
Garcia, M. , and J. Tanfani. 1997. Board to city on recovery plan: No. Miami Herald, 15 January.
21.
Hampton, J.1996. Let’s just dissolve the city of Miami. Miami Herald, 6 October.
22.
Harrigan, J.1993. Political change in the metropolis. New York: HarperCollins.
23.
Kingdon, J.1984. Agenda, alternatives, and public policies. New York: HarperCollins.
24.
Lantigua, J. , and R. Adams. 1996. How the money mess unfolded. Miami Herald, 4 December.
25.
Lyons, W. , and D. Lowery. 1989. Governmental fragmentation vs. consolidation: Five public-choice myths about how to create informed, involved, and happy citizens. Public Administration Review49: 533-543.
26.
Orfield, M.1997. Metropolitics: A regional agenda for community and stability. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
27.
Ostrom, E.1972. Metropolitan reform: Propositions derived from two traditions. Social Science Quarterly53 (3): 474-493.
28.
Ostrom, E.1983. The social stratification-government inequality thesis explored. Urban Affairs Quarterly19: 91-112.
29.
Ostrom, V. , C. Tiebout, and R. Warren. 1961. The organization of government in metropolitan areas: A theoretical inquiry. American Political Science Review55 (4): 831-842.
30.
Parks, R. , and R. Oakerson. 1989. Metropolitan organization and governance: A local public economy approach. Urban Affairs Quarterly25 (1): 18-29.
31.
Peterson, P.1981. City limits. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
32.
Pierce, N.1993. Citistates: How urban America can prosper in a competitive world. Washington, DC: Seven Locks Press.
33.
Puente, M.1996. One solution for Miami: Nonexistence. USA Today, 6 December.
34.
Riker, W.1990. Heresthetics and rhetoric in the spatial model. In Advances in the spatial theory of voting, edited by J. Enelow and M. Hinich, 46-65. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
35.
Rusk, D.1993. Cities without suburbs. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.
36.
Schneider, M. , P. Teske, and M. Minstrom. 1995. Public entrepreneurs. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
37.
Silva, M. , and M. Garcia. 1996. In state custody: Miami ordered to mend money mess. Miami Herald, 4 December.
38.
Tanfani, J. , and M. Garcia. 1996. State pans crisis plan for Miami. Miami Herald, 17 December.
39.
Tiebout, C.1956. A pure theory of local expenditures. Journal of Political Economy44: 416-424.
40.
Viglucci, A. , and K. Branch. 1997a. Abolition movement losing steam. Miami Herald,17 August.
41.
Viglucci, A.1997b. Campaign to abolish city is hurt as key backer quits. Miami Herald, 14 January.
42.
Viglucci, A. , A. Chardy, and D. Keating. 1997. Abolish Miami? NO. Poll says desire to preserve city, its culture and history sways strong majority in every neighborhood. Miami Herald, 2 February.
