An exciting yet relatively unknown episode in American labor history took place in New York City between 1965 and 1975. Rank-and-file members of numerous unions caught a "strike fever" as they challenged the entrenched power of some of the country's most powerful politicians, employers, and union leaders in a wave of contract rejections, wildcat strikes, and electoral campaigns. Workers in unions across New York wanted more than better contracts: they contested control of the work process, racism on the job, and workers' place in America's socioeconomic hierarchy while implicitly and explicitly demanding greater democratic control of their representative organizations. Some initial challenges were effective and succeeded in delivering better contracts and unseating undemocratic leaders. However, those early successes were short-lived. Glenn Dyer traces the way workers were met with employer recalcitrance and union attacks that proved too powerful to organize against. In the face of this resistance, workers retreated into a survivalist attitude of accommodation and resignation, contributing to the decline of social democratic New York and working-class power in the city. Ultimately, Dyer argues, the failures of the rank-and-file organizing efforts in New York City, which was the biggest center of organized labor in the country, shows how stunted workers' aspirations and numerous defeats not only uprooted the foundations of New York's uniquely social democratic polity but also ushered in a national era of increased working-class subservience that has resonance today.

Public authorities are an increasingly important form of government in the United States. Every year, various public policies are entrusted to public authorities for implementation in the manner of a private firm but for the public interest. This edited collection presents an in-depth examination of the theory and practice of public authority administration and the current issues confronting public authorities in general. Cases are provided to invite discussion about the uses of authorities in different policy areas. The book begins with an introduction that reviews the premises that underlie the public authority concept and describes the policy activities and administrative organization of authorities. The first section of the book focuses on the external and internal techniques used to hold authorities accountable. The second section describes various financial issues relevant to authorities, highlighting ways to improve the security of bonds and providing cases showing how corporate subsidiaries are used to finance projects. The third section explores innovative uses of authorities in the areas of economic development, low-income housing creation, social problem-solving, and hazardous waste disposal. The final section considers the impact of public authorities, using economic impact analysis to measure quantitative benefits of one specific authority and probing the problems in evaluating performance in one state. The book concludes with a selected bibliography and a name and subject index. The book is a useful resource for courses in public administration, public policy, management, state and local government, urban planning, public finance, and political science.