Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it

From Bell Clement, director, Historical Society of Washington:

*Please contact your D.C. Council members and tell them why the Historical Society of Washington matters to You.

As many of you read in today's Washington Post ("Council Withdraws Funding for Group," subtitled "Loss of $500,000 Shocks Leaders,") the City Council yesterday voted to wipe out $500,000 in funding promised to HSW in the coming fiscal year. Council members say they do not understand what it is we do here at HSW and why it matters so much.

We hope you can help us by telling D.C. Council why HSW matters to you.

*ACTION: *Please call or write or email the members who represent you - from your ward AND the at-large members elected citywide - and tell them why HSW matters to you. Council contact information is listed below. If you are willing to share your communications with us, please copy us at info@historydc. org or fax 202.383.1870.

If you have questions or comments for us, please contact me. My direct line is 202.383.1810, and email clement@historydc. org.

D.C. history matters. We need to say this to our Council - we need your help.

Thank you.
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Speaking of history, it would appear that everything happening now at the City Council and Executive Branch level is about the consolidation of power and the repudiation of the policies and procedures of the previous administration.

If you want to get some insight into it, from a macro perspective, there is the paper that I frequently mention, City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place by Harvey Molotch. The book that grew out of this paper is Urban Fortunes, a bit dated but well worth reading. The alternative approach, out of political science, to the Growth Machine "school" is that of the urban regime. Personally, I feel that GM explains why the local political and economic elite does what it does, and the urban regime "school" explains how they operate. This paper, "ANALYSING THE CHANGE IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT- Perspectives of the Regime Theory and the Growth Machine Thesis," compares the two schools. The leader of the UR school is Professor Clarence Stone at UMD. I'll have to take a class with him...

While not written by academics, the best GM/UR analysis of the city is probably Jaffe and Sherwood's Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington, D.C., 1964-1994. Until you read that book, you won't really understand the city, and you won't understand today's City Council, and to some extent, the major orientation of the Executive Branch. This article from Washington Monthly is a pretty good review.

I haven't read this book, Between Justice and Beauty: Race, Planning, and the Failure of Urban Policy in Washington, DC by Howard Gillette, but I expect it is quite good. It's on my list to read after this transportation paper (and further improvements), the presentation Sunday, work, etc...

When I wrote this blog entry, it was with trepidation, but maybe 'cause no one really reads my long entries, no one notices... Tom Sherwood, Duncan Spencer, Anwar Amal, and thinking about what I call the "Uncivil War"