Robert P. Stoker

Crafting Urban Policy The Conditions of Public Support for Urban Policy Initiatives

This article assesses how policy framing and targeting may influence public support for federal initiatives that address urban problems. Does directing federal aid to specific target groups, programmatic uses, or types of cities affect the level of public support? To explore these questions, the authors conducted two survey experiments asking whether respondents support aid to cities while randomly varying the framing and targeting conditions. The evidence suggests that some framing and targeting strategies (particularly, targeting specific programmatic uses) do affect public support for urban aid. The authors conclude by discussing the implications of the analysis for support for federal urban assistance.

Rethinking Empowerment: Evidence from Local Empowerment Zone Programs:

The legacy of the federal government’s Empowerment Zone initiative is contested. The evidence undergirding the initiative’s legacy, however, is based primarily on models that estimate national effects. We use an alternative evaluation strategy that places greater emphasis on local Empowerment Zones as distinct programs. Our findings show that several cities did produce improvements that likely can be attributed to the EZ initiative. The results, however, are not consistent across outcomes or cities. Our findings suggest that what happens locally is a vital concern for federal urban policy and also informative for local communities with responsibility for crafting and executing revitalization strategies.