City Politics, Canada

City Politics, Canada will both irritate and please, but it should be read--it raises all the important questions about urban governance in Canada. It integrates an understanding of the impact of the world context on Canadian cities with the detailing of the ways in which provincial governments guide and control municipalities. James Lightbody has always been an ardent promoter of city-region amalgamations and municipal political parties and these two themes are central to City Politics, Canada. Both positions are argued in great detail and the discussion links these issues to the big political questions--democracy, participation, innovation. The scope is broad and the detail is there.

Caroline Andrew, Centre on Governance, University of Ottawa

City Politics, Canada is an excellent read. It is comprehensive--from historical reform efforts, through public policy making in our cities, to urban elections, political parties and interest groups. It identifies the impact of urban culture and social movements. It comments on the current debates about local intergovernmental relations and new public management. It has opinions on regional/metropolitan governance for the twenty-first century. And it asks the reader to think about urban theory and the internationalization of cities. It does all this with some attitude--one which engages and provokes rethinking much of what we think we know about modern political life in Canada.

Patrick J. Smith, Simon Fraser University