Peter F. Burns

GOVERNORS AND THE DEVELOPMENT REGIME IN NEW ORLEANS

Regime theory argues that local actors shape city politics even though state government sets the rules under which urban players act. Regime theorists typically do not focus on conditions under which governors assume important roles in local regimes. The authors examine major economic development projects in New Orleans to highlight conditions under which extralocal actors, namely, governors, become involved in local regimes. A scarcity of both resources and business leaders in New Orleans, competition with other states, and political considerations motivated Louisiana governors to increase their participation in New Orleans’s urban development regime. Governors constituted part of the mobilization effort to move the city from a caretaker regime to a progrowth regime. They used their authority, fiscal resources, and leadership skills to assume this greater role. Gubernatorial participation in the regime benefited governors, New Orleans mayors, and major businesses at the expense of tourists, working-class and poor residents, the state legislature, and the state’s business reputation.

A NEW NEW ORLEANS? UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF HISTORY AND THE STATE–LOCAL RELATIONSHIP IN THE RECOVERY PROCESS

ABSTRACT: Two years after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the city still struggles to rebuild and recover. In this article, we examine how deeply rooted historical patterns of state–local conflict reasserted themselves even after the terrible destruction of Katrina and the redemptive promise of a new beginning. We also explain how state government, some city leaders, and most New Orleanians took advantage of the opportunities presented by Hurricane Katrina to change certain aspects of governance in New Orleans. This research highlights the importance of the state–local relationship in understanding urban affairs and the critical nature of historical patterns and their persistence. State–local conflicts over finances, control of local politics, and cultural differences have plagued New Orleans for decades, and they continue to do so in the post-Katrina era.

Message of Appreciation to Our Book Review Editor and Editorial Board

The Urban Affairs Review (UAR) editorial team would like to acknowledge the contributions to the journal by outgoing Book Review Editor, Deborah Martin. She has been a valued member of our editorial team for the last three years and we are grateful for her willingness to serve the journal in this role. We would also like to acknowledge the following 11 individuals who have supported UAR through service on our editorial board for the past three years:

Book Reviews: Race Rules: Electoral Politics in New Orleans, 1965—2006, by Baodong Liu and James M. Vanderleeuw. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2007. 165 pp.

How did New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin win reelection after Hurricane Katrina? Many people, especially those outside New Orleans, asked this question following Nagin’s 52.9 percent to 47.1 percent victory in the May 20, 2006, mayoral runoff. In Race Rules: Electoral Politics in New Orleans, 1965–2006, Baodong Liu and James M. Vanderleeuw provide the answer: Race rules, but in some instances much more than others. In the 2006 mayoral runoff, Nagin captured 83.3 percent of the Black vote, but only 20.5 percent of the White vote (p. 11). Liu and Vanderleeuw use the first postKatrina municipal election to set the stage for the rest of their book, which examines racial voting patterns in New Orleans mayoral elections over a four-decade period. The first chapter describes the essence of not only voting in New Orleans but also the electoral politics that surrounded the first municipal elections after Hurricane Katrina. The authors summarize the critical issues that faced the electorate, both Black and White, in the months leading up to the mayoral primary and run-off. The opening chapter concludes with important questions: “To what extent does the connection between the racial makeup of the citizenry and electoral politics observed in the 2006 mayoral election occur in other elections? How durable is this connection?” (p. 13). In the rest of the book, Liu and Vanderleeuw analyze, describe, and explain the racial voting patterns in New Orleans mayoral elections since 1965. They find a durable connection between the racial makeup of the citizenry and electoral politics. Liu and Vanderleeuw conclude that either racial conflict or racial accommodation emerges in mayoral elections. The third chapter lays out the racial accommodation and conflict theories. Accommodation, or high levels of crossover voting, occurs when one racial group makes up the political majority (p. 39). Under this circumstance, members from the racial minority group act as swing voters to elect the candidate from the racial majority who is most likely to represent their concerns. To support this racial accommodation thesis, Liu and Vanderleeuw break down the 2002 election, in which Nagin captured the office for the first