Boss Tweed's New York / Seymour J. Mandelbaum with a new introduction by the author.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mandelbaum, Seymour J.

Series:

New dimensions in history. Historical cities

Elephant Paperbacks

Elephant paperbacks

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

New York (N.Y.)--Politics and government--To 1898.

New York (N.Y.).

National Book Committee.

Politics and government.

Tweed Ring.

Tweed, William Marcy, 1823-1878.

Tweed, William Marcy.

Physical Description:

xv, 196 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Edition:

First Elephant paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : I.R. Dee, 1990.

Summary:

At the height of his power in New York City, around 1870, William Marcy (Boss) Tweed's hands were everywhere in city government and party politics. His success in looting the city treasury and using the payoff to achieve his objectives earned him a reputation as the classic example of the corrupt municipal boss. Mr. Mandelbaum sees Tweed's New York as a metropolis in the making, still evolving from a loose connection of villages. Political organization was incoherently decentralized; the decision-making process was rudimentary and dispersed. Public sanitation, housing, transportation, welfare, and control of crime were deplorable.

Amidst this turbulence Boss Tweed was, according to Mr. Mandelbaum, the right man at the right time--"a master communicator" who "united the elements in a divided society." The author argues that communications plays a crucial role in democratic decision-making, and that Tweed's New York suffered hopelessly inadequate communications. They could not cope with the complexity of the city's problems. Difficult issues took on a forced simplicity, and political decisions were thrown into the marketplace. Mr. Mandelbaum's analysis of the historical situation forms a cogent case study in the democratization of American society.

Contents:

1. Communication and Community 1

2. Benchmarks and Barriers 7

3. Communicating Across a Distance 19

4. Communication and Organization 27

5. The Democratic Dream 40

6. Decentralized Government and the Big Pay-Off 46

7. The Moment of Opportunity 59

8. The Fall of the Ring 76

9. In Pursuit of Economy 87

10. Self-Confirming Suspicions: The End of Reform 105

11. Structure, Not Party 114

12. The Rejection of Kelly 131

13. The Growth of Regulation 141

14. Administering a Complex Environment 155

15. Giant Without Direction 169

16. Communication and Social Change 182.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0929587200 :

OCLC:

187448064