Reviews
"Through the conceptual lenses of 'political arrangements' and 'policy agenda fidelity', the authors set out to explore the ways extralocal actors and reform-oriented players have used their resources and authority to change pre-Katrina governance configurations and... capture eloquently the identity of the pre-Katrina status quo and the longstanding patterns of corruption, patronage and mismanagement that characterised the city institutions and officials prior to the storm.It will be a critical resource for academics, researchers and practitioners in the field of disasters, urban politics and urban sociology." -Angeliki Paidakaki, Urban Studies Journal (November 2016), Through the conceptual lenses of 'political arrangements' and 'policy agenda fidelity' the authors set out to explore the ways extralocal actors and reform-oriented players have used their resources and authority to change pre-Katrina governance configurations and... capture eloquently the identity of the pre-Katrina status quo and the longstanding patterns of corruption, patronage and mismanagement that characterised the city institutions and officials prior to the storm. It will be a critical resource for academics, researchers and practitioners in the field of disasters, urban politics and urban sociology., "In Reforming New Orleans, Peter F. Burns and Matthew O. Thomas open for full view what many paid very little attention to before August 2005: New Orleans has long been a poor, dangerous, racially divided, and struggling city. Burns and Thomas provide a rich description of policy implementation in New Orleans before and after the storm and of what happened to education, public housing, and public safety after Katrina. This book breaks new ground."--Marion Orr, Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science and Urban Studies, Brown University, author of Black Social Capital: The Politics of School Reform in Baltimore, 1986-1999, 'New Orleans was different after Hurricane Katrina, but it was not new.' With this thoughtful observation, Peter F. Burns and Matthew O. Thomas assess dramatic changes in post-Katrina New Orleans' politics and policies in the context of prior political arrangements. The disarray unleashed by Katrina encouraged collaboration between a newly active business sector and civic elite on reform proposals that wrested authority from local actors and diminished local voices. Burns and Thomas trace the effects of this extralocal reform narrative on housing, economic development, public education, and the police. Reforming New Orleans features wonderful detail on The Big Easy and the politics of reform., In Reforming New Orleans , Peter F. Burns and Matthew O. Thomas open for full view what many paid very little attention to before August 2005: New Orleans has long been a poor, dangerous, racially divided, and struggling city. Burns and Thomas provide a rich description of policy implementation in New Orleans before and after the storm and of what happened to education, public housing, and public safety after Katrina. This book breaks new ground., Not surprisingly, Burns and Thomas find that pre-Katrina New Orleans was governed by multiple political arrangements with weak fidelity to policy agendas (5).... It's important to remember... that in a political arrangement that results in a greater chasm between rich and poor, barriers to affordable housing, persistent inequities in education, and a racially disparate criminal justice system, we all lose., "'New Orleans was different after Hurricane Katrina, but it was not new.' With this thoughtful observation, Peter F. Burns and Matthew O. Thomas assess dramatic changes in post-Katrina New Orleans' politics and policies in the context of prior political arrangements. The disarray unleashed by Katrina encouraged collaboration between a newly active business sector and civic elite on reform proposals that wrested authority from local actors and diminished local voices. Burns and Thomas trace the effects of this extralocal reform narrative on housing, economic development, public education, and the police. Reforming New Orleans features wonderful detail on The Big Easy and the politics of reform."--Susan E. Clarke, University of Colorado, author of The Work of Cities, "In Reforming New Orleans , Peter F. Burns and Matthew O. Thomas open for full view what many paid very little attention to before August 2005: New Orleans has long been a poor, dangerous, racially divided, and struggling city. Burns and Thomas provide a rich description of policy implementation in New Orleans before and after the storm and of what happened to education, public housing, and public safety after Katrina. This book breaks new ground."--Marion Orr, Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science and Urban Studies, Brown University, author of Black Social Capital: The Politics of School Reform in Baltimore, 1986-1999