Closing the Urban-Rural Power Divide : Envisioning a United City-States of America

This book proposes a radical reorganization of political and electoral power to address the current political imbalance between urban and rural populations in the United States. Hogan argues that, despite being smaller in population, a “financialist-ruralist coalition” has effectively used the Constitution―especially equal representation in the Senate―to create an anti-urban “vetocracy.” This political imbalance protects the interests of the financial elite and rural cultural conservatives, while effectively blocking urban interests, particularly regarding the adoption of a broad range of structural reforms and progressive policy preferences. By re-dividing many of the largest federated states into smaller city-states, the book posits, the United States would reduce the ability of non-urban interests to control the Senate. This would allow an empowered urbanite alliance to pass the forward-looking legislation the nation needs to remain internationally competitive in the coming decades. Acknowledgements Contents 1 America’s Cold Civil War and the Need for a Third Founding Notes 2 The Legitimate Grievances of the Metropolitan Majority 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Notes 3 The Ascent of American Cities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Notes 4 Creating City-States to Begin Closing the Urban–Rural Power Divide 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Notes 5 Structural Reforms and the Restoration of Political Fairness 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Notes 6 Pragmatism and an Urban-Oriented Policy Agenda 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Notes 7 Cosmopolitanism, Livability, and the Return of a Unifying Identity 1 2 3 4 5 Notes Correction to: Closing the Urban-Rural Power Divide Correction to: T. Hogan, Closing the Urban-Rural Power Divide, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34063-5 Index