Four Cities: A Study in Comparative Policy Making

This book attempts to make a comparative analysis of the political process in four middle-sized American cities over the decade 1948-1957. By holding certain factors constant, explanations were sought for policy variations over this time span and in communities of similar size, ranging in population from 50,000 to 70,000.

Naming their cities by means of the neutral symbols Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta, the authors embarked upon an extensive program of research involving reading back through...