"Decentralization efforts by the Great Cities tend to follow three basic patterns; (a) advisory councils... (b) citizen control... (c) district boards of education... (Author)

Two types of organizational structure--centralized and pluralistic--found in 48 states' public assistance organizations can be partly accounted for by the administrative ideology that was dominant at the organization's formative stage. The effects of the structure on some internal components of the organization are long-lasting. (Author/IRT)

In the West, the community movement emphasizes grass roots control. In developing countries, however, community movements often reinforce the centralizing tendencies of the emerging nation-states. These third world movements must become independent of plans imposed by national governments, and instead, develop networks of ties with other…

Questions the rationale for and possible consequences of political decentralization of New York City. Suggests that the disadvantages--reduced level of professionalism, increased expense in multiple government operation, "stabilization" of residential segregation, necessity for budget negotiations because of public disclosure of tax…

The implications of the recently authorized regionalization of university administration in Spain, with the possibility of autonomous communities taking on wide responsibility for higher education and scientific and technical research, are explored. Concern is expressed for potential loss of efficiency and effectiveness. (MSE)

Responses from inquiries to the superintendents of 32 urban school systems across the country provided the basis for classifying and evaluating modes of decentralization and extent of community control. Main features of the school systems' operations are reported under nine categories: (1) decentralized decision making with centralized…

The continuing intervention of the Commonwealth government in postsecondary education will become increasingly dysfunctional. Some issues discussed are planning and coordination, increasing degree of centralism, growth of bureaucracy, attitudes toward the sectors, and accountability. (MLW)

As one in a series of eight articles written by different professionals concerned with Alaska Native land claims, this article focuses on land use planning alternatives after December of 1976 when the configuration of Alaska lands will have been largely finalized under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1972. While this particular booklet…

Historically, participation in school affairs gave rural people a working knowledge of how democracy functioned. In the late 19th century, power shifted from the voice of the many to the voice of a few, as "expert" opinion increasingly influenced state legislators, governors, and national political leaders. The push to consolidate…

Traces the trend toward increased local autonomy in Spanish education by placing this movement in historical context. Contends that public and social life in Spain may be disrupted by regional pressure for greater self-determination in education. Suggests that fundamental change will be best

Since 1993, school reform leaders from Chicago (Illinois), Denver (Colorado), New York (New York), Seattle (Washington), and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) have come together in the Cross City Campaign to work for the improvement of urban education. In each of these cities rhetorical pleas for decentralization and the investment of decision making in…

Examines the relationship between centralization and public education. Suggests that compulsory schooling is key to the increasingly centralized and "managed" nature of society and that the nationalization of schooling has undermined individual rights to liberty and democracy. Advocates that communities be responsible for their children and for…

The local school board has traditionally been the predominant control mechanism for public education in this country. Since the 1970s however, increased legislation and reform in statehouses across the nation have functioned to reduce the discretion enjoyed by local boards. This paper represents an attempt to sketch this increase in state…

This book is an interpretive history of the organizational revolution that took place in American schooling during the 19th century, its politics and ideology. It attempts to assess how the schools shaped, and were shaped by, the transformation of the United States into an urban-industrial nation. It looks at the shift from village school to urban…

Examines the coincident nature of recent educational reforms (multiculturalism, skills training, curricular redesign, school choice) in Canada and four other Anglophone democracies as related to two forms of globalization: economic globalization and global rationalization and standardization. Concludes that globalization is transforming education…