ABSTRACT
The notion that improved efficiency of municipal operations never trumps the imperatives of democracy has been put to the test in the city of Detroit. This chronically underperforming city has seen remarkable improvements in efficiency of its municipal operations, but these have come only with a diminishing of local democratic oversight and control. The city's woefully debt-burdened balance sheet was being scrubbed clean in a municipal bankruptcy court overseen by a federal judge. Chronically inefficient city departments are posting better performances, but only after being taken over by an emergency manager appointed by the governor over the strenuous opposition of local Detroit officials. Detroiters remained firmly in control of their municipal apparatus even if they were powerless to stop the forces of suburbanization and de-industrialization that were hollowing out their city. Unnecessary layers of bureaucracy, broken technology, short staffing, dwindling revenues—all pieces of the puzzle that explained why the normal democratic processes no longer produced efficient government in Detroit.
