If Mayors Ruled the World
Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities
by Benjmin R. Barber

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Author(s)

Benjamin R. Barber

Publication

New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 2013

Scope

418 Pages, 24 cm.

ISBN

9780300164671

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Is the nation-state, once democracy's best hope, today democratically dysfunctional? Obsolete? The answer, says Benjamin Barber is yes. Cities and the mayors who run them can do and are doing a better job. Barber cites the unique qualities cities worldwide share: pragmatism, civic trust, participation, indifference to borders and sovereignty, and a democratic penchant for networking, creativity, innovation, and cooperation. He demonstrates how city mayors, singly and jointly, are responding to transnational problems more effectively than nation-states mired in ideological infighting and sovereign rivalries.

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Keywords

urbanism

Location

Cabinet 17 - 4: Urbanism

Remarks

Incl. bibliographical references and Index.