Power and Mobilization in the Urban Community: Reconsidering the Ecological Approach

Abstract

Hawley's theory that the distribution of system power in the urban community is related to its capacity for mobilization on public issues is examined in the framework of a model specifying mobilization, the scope of municipal government, the MPO ratio and organizational dimensions of system power (employment concentration and absentee-ownership) as consequences of the city's functional role in an urban division of labor. The model treats mobilization as an unobserved variable mediating the effects of community structure on three policy variables: municipal government expenditures, urban renewal and poverty program funding. Coefficients estimated under the model suggest that, while the MPO ratio is strongly dependent on urban function and organizational structure, its direct effect on mobilization is stronger than effects produced by these factors. The model postulating mobilization is then compared with the results of separate regressions calculated for each policy variable. The data indicate that it constitutes a reasonably good fit to regression estimates where municipal expenditures and urban renewal success are dependent variables but not in the case of poverty funds. With regard to the latter, the organizational measures of system power prove more important than the MPO ratio. Furthermore, governmental scope is found to be a moderately important variable intervening between elements of community structure and policy consequences, but its influence is considerably less than that of other variables in the model. In conclusion, general support is claimed for an ecological approach which views urban public policy as the end result of a sequence of conditions originating with city size and economic function.