Really, Really Rough Draft Dissertation Prospectus

Really, Really Rough Draft Dissertation Prospectus

I'm sending this out to my advisors tonight, so I thought I'd also see what the rest of the world thinks about the general idea, before I dive into it. Any comments are appreciated.

Joseph Frank
Dissertation Prospectus Outline
11/13/2005

A "Tiered" Geo-Spatial Approach to Analyzing the Political and Socio-Economic Determinants of Service Delivery in Urban Areas
Case Study: The City of Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

Abstract:

This empirical case study offers a dynamic four-tiered geo-spatial model of urban services and residential segregation. Based upon the public choice theory of Tiebout, Ostrom, et al., it proposes a modification of public choice theory: that individual choice is constrained by socio-economic factors. Emphasis is placed on the political and economic determinants of differential service delivery. Among the urban services considered are public sector services such as trash collection, private sector services such as pizza delivery, and “meta-services” such as property value protection codified through planning and zoning. The case study focused on the City of Saint Louis, Missouri. Service differential is correlated with race and income, and these differentials are accentuated by political factors particularly at the ward level.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1:

Introduction and Literature Review
- Overview of Tiebout, Ostroms, and the rest of the urban public choice school
- Critique and analysis of Tiebout
- The Consolidationist "Good Government" Perspective
- Neo-Consolidationists: The Social-Stratification Government Inequality (SSGI) Thesis

Chapter 2:

Contribution to the Literature
- Considering Race and Class
- Tiebout Plus Socio-Economics: A Composite Approach
- The Dynamic Four-Tiered Geo-Spatial Model of Urban Segregation in the U.S.
- Descriptions of Each Tier; and, How the Model is Reversed in the Developing World

Chapter 3:

Case Study: The City of Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
- Economic and Social Profile of the City of Saint Louis
- Political and Government Structure of the City of Saint Louis
- The Citizens Service Bureau and Neighborhood Stabilization Team: Public Requests with Political Impacts

Chapter 4:

Categories of Service Delivery
- Public-Sector Local Government Services
-- Services Specific to Upper-Income Areas: Leaf Pick-up, etc.
-- Services Specific to Distressed Areas: Vacant Building Board-up, etc.
-- General Services: Trash Pick-up, etc.
-- The Special Role of Aldermanic Service Requests
-- Amorphous but Crucial Services: Police, Fire, Health Care and Schools
-- Infrastructure: Why Reconstruction is (Politically) Easier than Maintenance
-- State Intervention: When Does the State of Missouri Pick up the Tab?

- Private-Sector Services
-- The Politics of Urban Retail and Restaurant Location Decision-Making
-- Street-Level Private-Sector Delivery in the City; or, Why Doesn't Pizza Hut Deliver Here?
-- Service Industry Location Decision-Making; or, Why H&R Block Has Two Kinds of Locations

Chapter 5:

Detailed Empirical Analysis
- Public Sector Services GIS Maps
- Quantitative Data: Citizens Service Bureau
- Quantitative/Qualitative Data: Board of Aldermen Redevelopment Projects, TIF, etc.
- Private Sector Services GIS Maps

Conclusions and Further Research