ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of the civic culture of Dallas, Texas. It examines the relationship between housing policy and economic development in a burgeoning downtown area as an example of Dallas's civic culture. As early as Alexis de Tocqueville's accounts of America's young civic culture, understanding community behavior has been inextricably linked to the knowledge of community political institutions. Civic-republican theories of democracy suggest that a thriving civic culture is positively related to effective political institutions and better institutional decision-making. The city of Dallas presents a unique case because of its evolving demographic trends and geographic location. In accordance with the trend of the early twentieth century, the City of Dallas adopted a commission system in 1906, replacing its aldermanic ward system of governance. The first element of civic culture in their model is the power system, including the nature of stakeholder inputs, procedural characteristics, and the division of decision-making authority.
