ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a contextual approach to urban politics that suggests that periodic fiscal crises have resulted in regime changes in New York’s governance. The contextual approach employs the other models as more or less accurate reflections of urban politics at specific and recurring historical phases in the evolution of urban regimes rather than as general characterizations of urban politics across time. The concept of a political regime is fundamental to the analysis of urban politics. Urban regimes establish the immediate structural and procedural constraints within which local officials develop public policy. The nature of the regime itself goes a long way toward determining which interests are accommodated by political officials. Periods of fiscal crisis result in dramatic changes in the interest group alignments that define the prevailing urban regime. Urban regimes modify their original policy emphases as they address new political demands.
