Urban regimes have been the subject of discussion in various discourses and characterizes the kind of politics present in urban areas. Urban regimes according to Leo influences the social and economic life of people in the cities. The urban regime theory has been developed by scholars and it includes all related factors of a specified circumstance and its focus is on the impact of certain situations to the relationships of members in associations or alliances. In political science, different articles have been written by scholars either in agreement or disagreement about the existence of these regimes. Such scholars include Timothy Cobban, Leo Christopher, Marquis, Greg and Pierre Jon among others. This essay will focus on four articles developed by each of these scholars.
In the four articles presented, urban politics come across as a crucial issue. It is consensual in all articles that the urban regime in Canada cannot be distinctively compared to that of the United State. This is because the local government structure in the United States differs from that of Canada. The role of the local government is recognized in all four articles, as for Leo, for example, he recognizes that the role of the local authorities has been neglected. According to him, the local governance is important in determining who gets what and when, Leo argues that, Cobban refuses to adopt the idea of a regime theory, arguing that no regime can last forever. In support of Paul Peterson (1981), argument that local politics are essential, Cobban argues that governments in cities have no choice but to embrace strategies that are geared towards developing. The focus, according to him is not on resource distribution, but rather it is sidelined towards development. Additionally, he argues that, city governments pursue policies that allow resources to be concentrated in the hands of a few people rather than everyone. This is made possible by control from certain aspects of society like the business community.
In another writing, responding to an article by Timothy Cobban on the political economy and urban progress, Leo deems the problem of governance in Canada as deserving a critical study. He compares the urban regime in London equally with the regime in Canada. In his article Leo attempts to develop an alternative regime theory. His curiosity on what foster coalitions in cities is expressed as he tries to establish the reasons for the formation of these coalitions. Due to issues raised concerning governance, Leo is of the view that leaders should be given exclusive rights to launch projects, guard varied interests of the society and provide solutions for many other problems in the city. Leo continues to point out why it is important for the leaders to be given the authority to distribute resources. He argues that, if the local authorities are not involved in this process, it may deprive the whole city. Leo seeks to develop the thoughts of Paul Peterson, who claimed that the government pursued policies oriented to growth rather than resource distribution. Leo cites scholars like Floyd and Stone whom attempt to explain why the allocation of resources by the influential members of the community is crucial. In his article, Leo claims that the public should be part of governance strategy and decision making. He is however against the idea of giving people in business the right to make decisions and especially decisions involving how finances and resources should be distributed. Leo’s article offers viewpoints concerning the development of an urban regime. He evaluates and compares various ways that can be used to discuss the contentious issue of urban regimes in various countries including Canada. Leo presents the similarities, differences and from this he offers criticism for assumptions taken from popular theorists in the field of political science. According to Leo’s article, Cobban does not offer enough evidence to support his governance regime analysis, which he attempts to present as an alternative from the urban regime theory. He draws vital similarities between development politics in London. He stresses the significance of evaluating development in the cities and discussion of politics in a dynamic perspective.
Another scholar that attempts to explain the urban regime is Marquis, Greg in an article that explores the escalation of coalitions in Saint John, which illustrates an urban shift. The article considers power relations among individuals. Greg used the growth coalition theory since it was more effective than the urban regime theory in studying Saint John between1950-2000. Community municipalities charged with the responsibility of distributing resources was growing gradually including politicians and a number of people with personal businesses. Greg argues that the government coalition also enhances the image of the region and improves community reputation. According to Greg, the political coalition in Saint John increased competition in the economy. He argues that during the 90s, the coalition strategies considered wider global terms in contrast to the recent regional thoughts.
Another article that borrows a lot of thought from Marquis Greg’s article is that Pierre, Jon as he tries to give an understanding of the urban regime. Greg argues that politics in the contemporary studies are one of the gravest issues in the political theory. Like many other researchers, the development of the urban regime knowledge interested Greg and he sought to compare this with the governance theory. Leo’s article and that of Greg present, the governing theory has more holistic than the urban regime theory.
In the United States, Greg argues that urban politics is under scrutiny and a common topic in political discussions. His article places interest on both political and economic features of urban regime structure from the point of view a comparative research about urban politics. A high-quality organizational cooperation between city hall and downtown corporate interests is what an urban regime needs. The cooperation will allow the urban regime to develop into a political economy, where a few but big corporate structures exist. The urban regime framework according to Greg is only a limited tool for an urban political discussion. Greg argues that for researchers intending to carry out a comparative research, it is necessary to have mutual exchanges between the local state and the exterior setting so that one can have wider grounds for comparison. As globalization is being embraced worldwide, there should be a theoretic guideline to studying various issues and provide an effective outlet for the same study.
All these scholars present a direct linkage between politics and the urban setting, the influence of urban areas of politics in Canada has been witnessed clearly. The theorist, however disagrees on some instances, for Example, in the case of Leo and Cobban disagreement rises slightly when, Cobban borrows the urban regime theory to explain political changes in London. Leo critics the evidence presented by Cobban in advancing his arguments explaining that his concepts are not effectively used. The treatment given to the urban regime theory by Cobban according to Leo is not satisfactory so he tries to expound on it. Cobban, on the other hand presents Leo’s conceptual outline as confused arguing that the urban regime theory would be the best theoretical structure to use in understanding the local decision making in Canada. For all four articles, Cobban is more convincing as he uses both London and Canada to explore and compare the theoretical assumptions of the urban regime theory. Cobban argues that, the urban regime assists in understanding the decision-making and general functioning of the local government in Canada.
Conclusion
Urban regimes from all this discussion are a reality in Canada. Although the authors do not completely agree on the kind of regime that exists, all acknowledge the vital role of decision making in the city governments. Greg Marquis in an argumentative essay presents the urban regime in a simple way arguing that they function beyond, the electoral politics, and controlling developmental aspects of the city. He presents what the other scholars call urban coalitions as the existing urban regimes. According to him, urban regimes have existed in Canada for a long time and have greatly influenced the country’s economic and political affairs. In order to clearly illustrate how the urban regimes functions, Greg uses the development of the Saint John’s city. He illustrates how the city governance and influence from the influential city dwellers, contributed to Saint John losing control over its taxation revenues. Christopher Leo and Timothy Cobban are in agreement that politics in the urban areas deserve more scholarly attention owing to its emerging importance in social, political and economic growth in a society. However, Cobban goes ahead to offer the governance theory as an alternative to the urban regime theory, however from all this we can see the presence of an urban regime in Canada.
