Is metropolitan governance, or the sharing of power and authority by jurisdictions, a good idea for Baltimore City and its surrounding counties? It’s been a topic that has been proposed many times dating back to the 1930s, and it was most recently in the news following the unrest in Baltimore earlier this spring.
Donald Norris, professor and director of the School of Public Policy, is author of the new book Metropolitan Governance in America, which examines the possibility of regional governance in the United States, attempts to establish metropolitan governance in the past, and the problems that have arisen due to the lack of adequate metropolitan governance. Norris, who has extensively researched public management issues, recently discussed his book and the prospects for regional government in Baltimore on the Baltimore Sun podcast Roughly Speaking with Dan Rodricks.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Norris discussed the history of the metropolitan governance debate and how metro government likely won’t happen in the Baltimore region, among other topics.
“It makes great sense theoretically. It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever when you look at the impediments to metropolitan government,” explained Norris. “Whether it’s Harford County or Howard County or Baltimore City…if we don’t live in the region, we don’t identify with the region. We identify with our neighborhoods and the jurisdiction that we pay our taxes to. We expect that jurisdiction and the officials that we elect in it will use those taxes wisely within the jurisdiction to provide services for us, not to spend that money on somebody somewhere else.”
Norris discussed how many people favor local governments, and those who oppose regional governments argue they are too far removed from the daily lives of citizens.
“It gets too big, it’s too remote, and it’s too bureaucratic,” said Norris. “You can’t achieve the kind of economies of scale that you thought you could achieve to begin with.”
Listen to the full podcast (interview begins at 23:00) on the Baltimore Sun website.
Image: Donald Norris speaks at UMBC’s 40th anniversary event for public policy. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
Tags: CAHSS, PublicPolicy
