Response to Lidstrom, Lewis, and Barnes on Fragmented Regionalism

Abstract

Critics often take their subjects on worthy journeys. Lidstrom has done this through a comparative approach. He draws parallels between American public authorities and European “inter-municipal cooperation”. While comparisons can be useful the parallels have limitations, and we point out that public authorities, “transcend local interests” whereas “inter-local agreements” reflect local interests. Lewis opens a new vista on the American landscape by demonstrating how numerous institutions work across jurisdictions. He shows there are functional equivalents to public authorites that work as “kludges” to patch together fragmented metropolises. Barnes takes us down a rockier road. He attributes much to our article that was neither written nor intended. Barnes’ critique is lodged in an assertion that we envisioned regionalism as an “ideal” of “one big metro government”. We take issue with this premise and its conclusions.