(Urban and Regional Planning) in the University of Michigan 2015
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Risk, Rationality, and Regional Governance by Thomas S. Skuzinski A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Urban and Regional Planning) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Scott D. Campbell, Chair Professor Elisabeth R. Gerber Professor Jonathan Levine Associate Professor Richard K. Norton Acknowledgements As with any project completed over many years and hundreds of hours, a dissertation requires a great deal of practical assistance and an even greater measure of emotional support and patience. I was fortunate to have both from many people. First, I acknowledge the investments of my committee members. Elisabeth Gerber: I can say, without exaggeration, this dissertation would have never been written and my doctoral degree never earned without your constant support. Whatever positive reputation I have as a scholar and teacher in the future will be directly attributable to your confidence in my abilities, your sound advice, your probing questions and comments, and your own work ethic. You are truly a mentor. Scott Campbell, the chair of my committee, a constant presence in my academic life the last eight years, and an unfailingly genial man: You always knew how to push my thinking in new and better directions. I felt you always treated me as a colleague and not as a student, and that is a rare trait to find in a professor. Jonathan Levine: I remember almost a decade ago when your wife Noga, one of my law professors, suggested I consider graduate studies in planning. What a fortunate and impactful conversation! You were the first planning scholar I met and the first whose work I read, and despite never formally being a student in one of your classes the clarity and rigor of your scholarship has taught me a great deal already. Richard Norton: Though your addition to my committee and first exposure to my dissertation research were under less than ideal circumstances, I appreciate your willingness to let me prove the quality of my work and the enthusiasm you have shown in the last several months. To all of ii you: You have each provided an example of how to be a professional scholar, and I know you will inspire me in my career. Several other people in the Urban and Regional Planning Department, Taubman College, and at the University of Michigan made my path a little easier to trod these last several years. Lisa Hauser, Stacey Shimones, Laura Brown, Janice Harvey, Jeanette Turner, and Beverly Walter: thank you for helping me navigate the ins and outs of graduate life, and—more importantly—for always being friendly. Nicole Scholtz: you made solving seemingly complicated GIS and spatial data problems a fun journey every time. Rob Franzese, Megan Reif, and Giselle Kolenic: whatever facility I have in quantitative methods—something that long intimidated me—I owe to the three of you. To Ann Lin: the way I think about the world and the paths I follow in my research were shaped greatly by your course in implementation and governance, which remains one of my favorite academic experiences—and I’ve had many! Deborah Fisher: the opportunity to work with Focus: HOPE helped me appreciate in a much deeper way the importance of using knowledge and skill in the real world, and I appreciate the example of your grace, intelligence, and dedication. Jered Carr, Annette Steinacker, and Antonio Tavares: your interest in my work gave me a boost of confidence at a time it was sorely needed, and I look forward to a career that affords many more interactions with all of you. To everyone who taught me how to be a better thinker or a better person, and I include in that group both my many (many!) teachers and my many students, I offer my gratitude. These last few years I have started and maintained (miraculously!) friendships I hope will continue long into the future. They have enriched my life with unexpected happiness, kindness, and fun. Matt, Nghi, David W., Cooper, Nick, Ian, David E., Wonhyung, Neha, Paul, and Deirdra: you and your families made pursuing a doctoral degree bearable with commiseration, iii hospitality, and conversation. If the Ph.D. brought me only your friendships and nothing else it would still be worth it. Nina David, besides being a friend and early connection to the doctoral program, your dissertation helped spark my interest in regional governance in Michigan; thank you for clearing a lot of the path for me. Nolan, Kimiko, and Lisa: distance and life have meant that we sometimes go months without communicating, but I always feel when I see each of you that no time has passed at all. In the future I hope the quantity of our time together matches the quality. Rick and Tara, Susan and Brandon, Sarah and Ken, Alexis, Jason, Jessica and Ezra, Diana and Matt, and members of The Book Club That Shall Not Be Named: you have all been thoughtful and generous and hilarious and just basically wonderful these past several years, and being able to think about our happy times together often made writing the dissertation bearable. Lauren and Adam, and Laura and Stephen: as I get a little older and a little wiser (but still not much) I’m realizing just how rare it is to find people you can just be yourself around and to have friends who feel like family, and how much that makes all the other parts of life better. I never expected to have that, and it has meant more than you probably know. Finally, and most importantly, I acknowledge my family. Thomas Richard Skuzinski, my father: I will miss getting one of your big hugs when I defend this dissertation, walk at my (last) graduation, have my first article or book published, or begin my career, but I will know you are with me in spirit for all those moments. Thank you for always being proud of my accomplishments and who I am. Rita Carolyn (Huber) Skuzinski, my mother and the original Dr. Skuzinski: you always understood me better than anyone, and many times you gave me the inner resolve not to give up even in the face of difficulties that seemed insurmountable. I understand better now how hard it can be to know your life is not just for yourself but for the people you love, and I have a deep respect for how well you managed being so much to so many people, iv especially your family. Elvira Skuzinski, my sister: the last six years have required a lot of sacrifices, and you made many before that. I hope the future brings you many rewards, and that I get to see you enjoy them. Hopefully we will both be able to look back at this time in the future when the strain of it all seems a little less sharp and know that it was worthwhile. To all three of you: I imagine inspiring someone to dream big while letting him know he will never be a failure no matter the outcome is no easy task, and I will always live with a sense of gratitude for having that kind of support. And to Michael Wise, my husband, my best friend, my better half, my most steadfast anchor, my strongest support, my inspiration, and my future: you are all those things and so much more, and despite writing a 200 page dissertation and having most of my accomplishments bound up in my facility with language I find that I have never been much good at expressing adequately how I feel about you with words, so I will continue to show you every day.. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... ii List of figures ....................................................................................................x List of tables .................................................................................................... xi Abstract.......................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1. Introduction ....................................................................................1 What is interlocal cooperation?................................................................................................... 4 Positioning interlocal cooperation in broader debates ................................................................ 6 story about interlocal land use cooperation................................................................................. 9 The current theoretical framework............................................................................................ 14 The process of cultural cognition applied to governance decisions ......................................... 17 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 19 Chapter 2. Rationality in Studies of Interlocal Cooperation...........................21 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 21 Theories of rationality ............................................................................................................... 22 Revisiting rational choice institutionalism................................................................................ 27 vi Rational choice in studies of interlocal collective action.......................................................... 31 Interlocal cooperation as a transaction...................................................................................... 32 Transaction cost economics .................................................................................................. 33