My previous post, Saving Our Cities, was an analysis of some of the problems plaguing American cities today. This article proposes a practical solution.

Last night I went to a bar in downtown San Francisco.

It looked like a dystopia.

I saw hundreds of people folded over (likely high on Fentanyl), or sitting on the sidewalks smoking.

Almost every person looked homeless.

I felt scared to park and walk two blocks. pic.twitter.com/zv3cdMtoj5

— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) January 22, 2023

Here is a quick review of some of the concepts I covered:

• Many of our major cities have been going straight downhill over the last half-century. Poverty, unemployment, homelessness, drug use, violent crime, filth, etc.  The telling part is that these effects are generally confined within the city’s borders.  The situation is so pervasive that nobody is even talking about it getting better.
• A “Functioning Democracy”: Economist Amartya Sen describes a “Functioning Democracy” as any political system (democracy or otherwise) where the government is held accountable to the people. Where government officials can be replaced if the people are unhappy with them. So, while in office, government officials have an incentive to do a good job. Without a Functioning Democracy, there is an enormous incentive for bribery, corruption, fraud, waste, mismanagement, and graft.
• “The Curley Effect”: Economists Edward Glaeser and Andrei Shleifer describe “The Curley Effect” (Boston mayor, not our favorite Stooge), where the mayor of a city can increase his chance of remaining in office with either the traditional approach of doing an excellent job, …OR… by implementing policies that drive the people who are likely to vote against him out of the city. (The Curley Effect: The Economics of Shaping the Electorate, The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Edward L. Glaeser, Andrei Shleifer (Both with Harvard and the National Bureau of Economic Research)
• A side effect of The Curley Effect: Without competition, the party in office can get away with anything. And the selection for political office is moved from the voters to the party organization.

Putting these four mechanisms together provides a very consistent explanation for the current state of our major cities.

Now, running a city is not that difficult; there are lots of good examples all around and best practices have been collected over the years. There really is no excuse. What we are witnessing is a lack of incentives to make things better, and a ton of incentives for maladministration.

Further, expectations of competence have been lowered with this occurring in so many cities at the same time.

What Not To Do About It

Blaming Democrats will do no good. Yeah, they did it, but it’s not gonna help. People are bored hearing the parties blaming each other for everything.

Debating left/right ideologies will do no good. Too abstract.

Complaining to the management will do no good. This model tells us that there will either be no response, or they will call you racist, or they will create a program that costs $1 billion and will make the problem worse. (Example: ThriveNYC.)

Individual efforts, like cleaning up an alley, will do no good.

Leaving the city will do no good. That’s actually the goal of the Curley Effect.

Running for office will do no good. The chance of getting elected is zero, and even if you do, everything will be stacked against you.

Blame Who?

Note that the Republican Party has not been involved in any of this.

The GOP organization has clearly done a cost/benefit analysis and concluded that spending its limited resources in Democrat-run cities is unlikely to win any elections there. As such, that’s completely reasonable. (Another plus, it avoids work.)

But…   it is precisely the uninvolvement of the Republican Party that has left our cities vulnerable to the Curley Effect, to One Party Rule, to the loss of a Functioning Democracy, and to the resulting vicious cycle of despair in these cities.

These are the unintended consequences of a completely rational decision.

Thus, the only fix is for the Republican Party to step up and grow a pair.

Just funding candidates in troubled cities is not going to work. This will require a “Manhattan Project” of sorts. You have to break the current model.

How To Do It

The overall goal is to replace selected city councils with a slate of local Republicans with a MOCGA (Make Our City Great Again) agenda.

1. Select a couple of cities to start with. Choose the ones that have the best chance of pulling this off. Small- or medium-sized cities with unused assets and documentable corruption would be best.
2. Set up shop. Lease buildings in select neighborhoods and turn them into community centers. Hire local people to do the renovations, maintenance, clerical, catering. Clean up the area around it; make it shine. Offer a comfortable and friendly atmosphere, free bagels, and coffee. Staff the center with helpful people providing all sorts of assistance; getting city services, landlord issues, organize cleanups. Recruit and help people to work on campaigns and run for office.
3. Run a slate of candidates with a common platform: “They did this to you, and we can fix it. Join us.”
4. When you win, audit the hell out of everything, decimate the bureaucracy, fire the scumbags, bring in businesses, turn the city around.

The ad campaigns would be easy; just show photos of local blight.

For example, here’s Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia:

So I think this is the only way. It’s a substantial project, but it’s doesn’t need a lot of money, technology, or equipment. Far better than spending money on tv ads. And if successful, it would be an enormous win for the people in the cities, for the party, and for the nation.