Urban Government under Thatcher and Reagan

Abstract

Recent developments affecting urban government in Britain and the United States are examined in this article. The socioeconomic trends affecting cities are similar, and central government financial support to city government has been reduced in both countries. The Thatcher government, however, combines economic liberalism with a sweeping commitment to political centralization, which would be unthinkable in the United States. The result is that British urban government, in contrast to American experience, has become highly politicized and conflictual.