Consensus and Compromise: Creating the First National Urban Policy under President Carter [Paperback]

A Partnership to Conserve America's Communities was the name President Jimmy Carter gave the first National Urban Policy when he presented it to Congress in March 1978. Based on the personal knowledge of the author, Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich, who was the executive director of the policy process, and the historical archives she preserved, this book analyzes the actions of Carter, HUD Secretary Patricia Roberts Harris, other Cabinet members, and the professionals leading the process. The focus is on the dynamics of the interactions among federal bureaucrats, public officials, urban advocates, and scholars that characterized the policy's development. Focusing on the process, rather than the substantive policies,Consensus and Compromiseoutlines the negotiation of power, principles, and priorities necessary to ensure the successful creation of the first National Urban Policy.Dr. Scruggs-Leftwichis a Professor at the National Labor College and a private consultant, essayist, and commentator. A former Fulbright Fellow in Germany, she also earned her Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning and Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania. She has written over 100 publications, has contributed to a number of scholarly and current-events books and publications, and her op-eds have appeared in publications such asChicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Newsday,andWomen's eNews.

This book should be read by all with an interest in and passion for Urban America. It is historic, instructive, and inspiring... Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Senior Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co. LLC

Urban policy makers, scholars, and advocates for the truly disadvantaged had better absorb the wise, candid, and pragmatic insights of Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich on the evolution of President Carter's national urban policy. The mind boggling insider turf battles among Democrats in the creation of that policy are not unrelated to Americls1