Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/862

 848 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

The Government of 'American Cities. By Horace E, Deming. New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1909. i vol. Pp. x+323.

Home Rule and amenability to popular control are here offered as the panaceas for our municipal ills. The author, whose experi- ence as chairman of the committee which drafted the "Municipal Program" should entitle his opinions to more than ordinary consid- eration, takes the position that American Cities are suffering from structural evils, the abolition of which is necessary for municipal reform.

The underlying thesis of the volume is that the evils of our city government are not due to the failure of democracy, but to the fail- ure to secure democracy. Our evils have not resulted from a corrupt or indifferent electorate but are the inevitable products of a system where decentralized responsibility, legislative interference, and party domination have rendered efficiency impossible and reduced popular control to an empty form. Simplify the government, centralize authority, shorten the ballot, secure home rule, and free the city from the toils of party politics, in short, make the government really amenable to the public will and an efficient administration will be demanded and secured.

The argument for home rule proceeds upon the basis that the city is better qualified to determine its local policies, organize its administrative details and administer its own affairs. The state legislatures are too overburdened to study local needs and are not answerable to the people affected by their hasty or ill-considered legislation. The author finds little difficulty in determining the boundary line between state and local questions which, he contends, should be carefully observed. If the form of government is simpli- fied in the interests of democracy, the author argues, if the people are given authority to determine their own policies and organize their own government, if they are vested with the sole responsibility for its administration, the modern city will become a school of civics and patriotism, the people will prove equal to their task and vindicate the theory of democracy.

As an argument for structural reform in favor of home rule and a genuine municipal democracy the work is clear and persuasive and should wield a splendid influence wherever it is read. It is doubtful, however, whether the author is justified in publishing such an excellent discussion without introducing more concrete evidence upon which to base his theories and conclusions. Even though