Decline in Democratic Oversight in City Budgets, New Research by L. Owen Kirkpatrick

While the wave of urban fiscal distress following the Great Recession resembles local fiscal crises of the past, two factors distinguish the current period. First, city budgets are thoroughly financialized—dominated by speculative and volatile debt arrangements—such that local crisis is now intertwined with financial market instability. Second, local fiscal politics are increasingly removed from democratic oversight and control, hindering the capacity of residents to protect and rebuild their communities. READ MORE: http://pas.sagepub.com/content/44/1/45?etoc