Economics

Throughout history there have been many policies and other governmental features which have shaped the country we live in today. As time continues to move forward, the United States also moves forward in trying to correct and make our society and communities more prosperous. We have allowed government authorities and policies, ethnical and racial identity, class division, and capital affect urban politics and the development of American cities in many ways. To better understand the complete idea, one must take a closer look at the particular topic to see the whole picture. Government authorities are those officials who mandate and help enforce the rules and policies in the United States today. To me government authorities and policies go hand in hand because the government authorities are the ones pulling the strings behind the policies. Government authorities and policies affect the urban politics and development of American cites easily. Within the federal government there are policies in particular that are pointed towards our urban communities, policies that are stretching their authorities in all ways to make those communities better. Our federal government used to not take the most effective approach when it came to our urban communities. Before President Barack Obama, our federal government previously functioned as a compartmentalized being, meaning that every unique part and policy dealing with the urban societies worked separately. Now President Obama is pushing to intertwine these urban policies so they can be more efficient together. With this new direction for urban policies it includes cross-cutting plans that will be a catalyst in strengthening the urban communities and also looks at including policies of criminal justice, transportation, education, energy, housing, and labor, as a single unit instead of separate policies. Together, these policies will bring a better urban area to existence. For example, The American Recovery and Investment Act is an act that focuses on the support for urban communities through the mentioned policies. This act strives to have wider access to housing that is affordable. Also, under this act there is a $1 billion dollar increase in funding for a community grant to help build up our urban communities and also over $1 billion dollars in funds to help prevent homelessness. To strengthen the workforce this act also provides a $4 billion dollar increase in investments. To wider our opportunities for education of students who come from low-income families, this act provides $13 million dollars for K-12 Title 1 schools. To put a boost in our nation’s infrastructure under this act there is also over $1 billion dollars in funding of our transportation. These things listed are just a couple of the strategies under this act that is a tactic toward our urban politics and American cities. The federal affect visible on our cities, is that there are expectations of producing more investments in our American cites and neighborhoods that will result in more growth economically and investments towards developing our communities. State governments also affect urban politics and community development. The state government advances towards the urban areas focus is making sure that there are dependable tax revenues for the requirements for schools, public health, lighting, and other areas. The state government makes sure that these things are within the power of the urban areas, because these areas in most cases need it more. The affect these things have on the community is its attempt in trying to provide a better one. The state does quite a bit for communities even down to collecting garbage. The way the local government affects the urban politics is not so different from the state or federal. The local government focuses on the power that the urban areas have in a particular city. Also, in reference to local governments we must take a look at direct subsidies. Direct subsidies have been a part of the local government development for many years, first beginning with urban renewal programs of the 1950’s. The local urban towns would be provided with federal funds to clear urban growth to be replaced with new residents and commercial projects in place of the urban cities. These ideas and happenings all coexist within the politics of the urban areas. These policies by the local government affect the community through an effort of trying to rebuild it into a new and better environment than that of the urban development. Ethnical and racial identity also affects the urban politics and American cities as well. It is sad to say, but most of the urban areas are made up of African Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities. Minorities tend to make up such a population because of unemployment or have low wage paying jobs and the urban areas are cheaper to live in. Also, a lot of minorities tend to be on welfare and through welfare they are also allowed to get housing and the housing provided through welfare in areas are transforming into urban areas because of the people who are living in the provided homes. Ethnical and racial identity from this angle affects American communities by creating more urban areas in a sense. Class division and capital in the urban politics and American communities easy enough display its affect. In terms of class divisions the middle to upper class has a tendency to live outside and away from urban areas. People who live in lower class are the individuals that mostly make up the urban areas. Living in the urban communities is cheaper and people in the lower class have no choice but to live within their power. It affects cites by having more lower class people living in urban areas. Capital affects urban politics and American communities as well. Naturally capital is lower in urban areas. Most urban areas don’t have much money or property ownership by businesses and individuals, which means that they have little capital. It is nearly impossible to try and build up an urban area with little capital and that is why above when mentioned in The American Recovery and Investment Act the federal government was funding urban areas with over a billion dollars. With less capital we have underdeveloped American communities and vice versa. In conclusion, there are many aspects all over the map that affect our urban politics and American communities. Either way you look at it there is work to be done to help our environment and country as a whole evolve in a more efficient manner. As we move forward, we must strive to complete the necessary means and beyond to help our urban politics formulate in a better way to produce a rich outcome, which in the end will make better American communities, and in the end making a better country for you and I to live amongst.