Reviews

An outstanding case study of big city electoral politics that perceptively analyzes the nuts and bolts of constructing a progressive governing coalition and illuminates the dynamics and contradictions of contemporary urban liberalism.--John Mollenkopf, author of The Contested City and A Phoenix in the AshesFirst-rate. It's a winner. DeLeon is a skillful writer. His work is clear and uncluttered by jargon. At the same time, he displays a remarkable ability to integrate seemingly diverse theoretical strands. . . . His analysis of coalition politics and of the referendum process shows him to be a master of the regime concept and to be acutely aware of the tensions within populist alliances. He sees the business community as composed of diverse sectors, not as a monolith. And he puts the mobility of capital into perspective, acknowledging its importance but showing its limits as well-particularly in an advantaged location of the kind San Francisco enjoys. This is a very sophisticated work.--Clarence Stone, author of Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946-1988DeLeon treats the process of regime formation as an open and contingent historical process--as it should be treated. He writes in a clear and lucid style. This book is a significant contribution to the literature on urban politics. Its audience will extend well beyond political scientists, encompassing urban sociologists, historians, geographers, political economists, and planners.--Michael Peter Smith, author of City, State, and Market: The Political Economy of Urban Society
Power brokers and citizens alike would do well to read this book.--San Francisco ExaminerSan Francisco has been labeled the capital of the progressive movement in the U.S., and DeLeon examines this evolution in a well-written and thoroughly documented account of the city's transition from a community promoting physical development to one which now endorses human development.--ChoiceDeLeon has a gift for storytelling. He takes readers on a fascinating tour of San Francisco's political world, from the idealistic administration of Mayor George Moscone to the downtown boom years of Dianne Feinstein's 10-year mayoral tenure, to the triumph and subsequent downfall of slow-growth candidate Art Agnos.--San Francisco Daily JournalThis keen study roughs out the contours and illuminates the shadows of The City's political terrain between 1975 and 1991 to help solve the how-did-we-get-here-and-who-got-us-here? puzzle.--San Francisco Magazine