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Vol. 72, No. 10, October
1999 |
Book Reviews
This Month's Featured Selections
 Governing Partners: State-Local Relations
in the United States
Edited by Russell L. Hanson
(Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998).
Paper. 352 pgs.
Reviewed by Dennis Boyer
The web of interconnections between various units of government
is an impenetrable thicket for many citizens. Which unit is ultimately
responsible for services, planning, and public safety? Prof.
Russell L. Hanson (Political Science Department, Indiana University)
uses his editorial direction here to suggest they all are responsible,
albeit in a constantly evolving synergistic way.
It is a timely work for those of us in Wisconsin, plagued
as we are with growing alienation between the state and its local
governments, local chafing at mandates, and sticker shock at
the cost of our education and criminal justice systems. A recent
Wisconsin Public Radio call-in show featured a real-life anecdote
from a Wisconsin legislative leader who told a tale of a mother
with three public servant sons.
The mother's question to her politico
boys was how to get someone to fix the pothole in the street
out front. City Alderman Son allowed as how the city would love
to fix the pothole if only the stingy state would provide sufficient
funds in the form of local road aids and municipal shared revenues.
Legislator Son said that such a move was impossible, given that
the public treasury had already been emptied to honor commitments
made to School Board member Son's school district. School
Board member Son protested that even state largesse failed to
fully fund the state-imposed educational requirements. Mother
threw up her hands and pronounced a plague on all their houses.
Unfortunately, this drama is played out daily in Wisconsin,
be it in relation to land use planning, special education, recycling,
or juvenile offender programs. Study committees, commissions
of public officials, and blue ribbon panels of experts have all
failed to get their collective hands around it.
So what might Hanson and his scholars offer in the way of
helpful advice on untying the Badger governmental knot? Perhaps
that is too large a demand on what is essentially a concise introduction
to state-local relations, with its nine essays concentrating
on structural arrangements, policy issues, and trends. But there
is enough food for thought here to prompt the wish that our legislators
would put down their partisan screeds and instead spend time
with this little volume.
The contributors to this collection help us understand the
history behind the 80,000 plus subnational governments in the
United States and how they were often the product of extralegal
pioneer arrangements that preceded formally chartered jurisdictions.
Of note are Beverly Cigler's "Emerging Trends in State-Local
Relations," Jeffrey Stonecash's "The Politics
of State-Local Fiscal Relations," and Timothy Tilton's
"Untidy Business: Disaggregating State-Local Relations."
Tilton's case studies are particularly grounded in Wisconsin-style
fragmented government and gain weight from his dual perspective
as both local government official and public administration academic
in Indiana. He aptly calls such local government proliferation
a "ramshackle collection of medieval fiefdoms" dependent
solely on voluntary cooperation in order to produce public goods
and services.
Wisconsinites can only hope that Cigler's predictions
are on the money: fewer general purpose local governments, flexible
structures and financing, and, ultimately, regionalization of
services. Our road down this path will undoubtedly be bumpy and
politically painful. But Hanson's compilation suggests that
it is unavoidable.
The book is part of the Transforming American Politics series
from Westview Press.
Dennis Boyer, West Virginia 1978, is
government relations counsel for the American Federation of State,
County, and Municipal Employees and is a writer of regional folklore,
including a work in progress on concepts of justice within local
legends.
A Guide to the Multiethnic Placement Act
of 1994
as Amended by the Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996
By Joan Heifetz Hollinger
(Chicago, IL: ABA Center on Children and the Law, 1998).
45 pgs. $9.95. To order, (800) 285-2221.
Reviewed by Donna M. Jones
This is a practical guide to new law regarding a very sensitive
issue: What role does race or ethnicity have when placing children
in foster or adoptive homes? As Hollinger explains, when Congress
found that considerations of race and ethnicity caused significant
delays in child placements, it passed the Multiethnic Placement
Act of 1994, as amended by the Interethnic Adoption Provisions
of 1996 (MEPA-IEP). MEPA-IEP promotes "the best interests
of children by (1) decreasing the length of time that children
wait to be adopted; (2) preventing discrimination in the placement
of children on the basis of race, color, or national origin;
and (3) facilitating the identification and recruitment of foster
and adoptive families that can meet children's needs."
By expressly prohibiting discrimination (under Title VI of
the Civil Rights Act), MEPA-IEP represents a 180-degree change
in child placement practices. MEPA-IEP improvements also include
emphasizing permanent placement of children early; requiring
consideration of children's adult relatives as placement
preferences; and, enforcing MEPA-IEP violations through administrative
action or private litigation. Before MEPA-IEP, it was standard
practice to match children and families by race or ethnicity.
Transracial placements were greatly discouraged, and efforts
to recruit minority parents faltered.
This guide provides substantial analysis of and answers common
questions about MEPA-IEP. It also offers agencies and workers
checklists for implementation. The appendices primarily include
the MEPA-IEP statute, and federal policy guidance and informational
memoranda. Hollinger accurately concludes that successful implementation
requires using good social work practices when pursuing the best
interests of the individual children and the goals of MEPA-IEP.
The "Conclusion" is brief and seems incomplete because
one of the three main MEPA-IEP goals is omitted without explanation.
The other two are included as "overriding goals." In
the statute and the guide's "Introduction" all
three goals are listed with equal importance. Omitting this goal
regarding recruitment of parents seems odd, given unsuccessful
past efforts to recruit minority parents, and the MEPA-IEP requirement
that states develop plans for "diligent recruitment"
of potential placement families that reflect racial and ethnic
diversity of the children.
Overall, Hollinger provides a useful guide and notes that
because some still favor racial and ethnic matching, the subject
remains controversial.
Donna M. Jones, U.W. 1978, is a consultant
who currently resides in Atlanta, Ga. She has served on the State
Bar Board of Governors and as director of the U.W.-Madison office
of Affirmative Action and Compliance (renamed "Equity and
Diversity Resource Center").
The Second Legal Answer Book
for Nonprofit Organizations
By Bruce R. Hopkins
(New York, NY: Wiley Publishers, 1999).
Paper. 320 pgs. $79.95.
Reviewed by Linda C. Smith
"What are the tax law standards used in determining the
reasonableness of compensation? What is the commerciality doctrine?
How much information must be provided to the IRS?" This
is just a sampling of the 429 questions presented and answered
in this The Second Legal Answer Book for Nonprofit Organizations,
by Bruce R. Hopkins. Although some topics are answered in a simple,
easily understood manner, others are of a more technical format
that someone without legal or accounting knowledge may find confusing.
In fairness to the author, this is the nature of nonprofits and
the regulations surrounding their operation. (I have not read
the predecessor to this work, The Legal Answer Book for Nonprofit
Organizations, and cannot comment as to whether questions
contained in that work complement those in this second book.)
The initial List of Questions, organized
by chapter, is a simple way to determine which sections cover
the specific topic of interest. The index refers to the pertinent
question, not the page. Ample endnotes contain additional information
for each answer.
For those starting a nonprofit organization, assistance in
completing the application is provided in plain English, and
guides the novice through the application process. Chapters that
cover business entities, annual reporting requirements, and recordkeeping
provide efinitions and explanations that help bridge the knowledge
gap between a nonprofit member and the accountant and attorney.
At the other extreme, questions and answers that try to guide
the reader through the IRS determinations are more technical
and may be confusing for those not already familiar with the
IRS jargon. Included are boxes containing the author's notes,
comments, tips, and cautions. Some of these are the author's
personal observations, while others are inserts of recent developments,
IRS tendencies, and legislative actions. The author provides
detailed hypotheticals to help decipher the more difficult concepts
and the gray areas of IRS determinations. Contained within this
book are questions on social welfare organizations, social clubs,
political organizations, and private foundations; how organizations
interact and what activities the nonprofit should avoid.
Overall, the answers are concise and understandable. If one
is already experienced with the nonprofit and the Treasury and
IRS regulations, this work will not be of significant benefit.
However, for the member of the nonprofit who wishes to understand
the requirements and allowable interactions of the nonprofit,
or the professional who has limited exposure to the nonprofit
but needs general information, this book may answer many of your
questions.
Linda C. Smith, Franklin Pierce 1998,
practices in real estate, estate planning, business, and family
law with Ward, Bilski & Schaumberg S.C., Osseo.
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