Ebooks for the Classroom+Faculty

Merger Mania
ISBN: 9780773568914
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / McGill-Queen''s University Press
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Annexation (Municipal government); Annexation (Municipal government) -- Case studies; Municipal government;

The idea that merging municipalities will improve local services and economic competitiveness has its roots deep in the nineteenth century. Municipalities in the US were first merged as early as 1848. However, despite being merged at the turn of the twentieth the city of New York was effectively bankrupt by 1975. In contrast metropolitan Boston - often seen as a recent success story in global competition - comprises 282 distinct municipalities.

Andrew Sancton is professor of political science and director of the Local Government Program at the University of Western Ontario.