| Abstract: | Regime theory has been used extensively in community governance studies. An analysis of the urban regime theory literature and the regional governance literature reveals that urban regime theory can also be useful in the study of regional governance. Both literatures indicate the critical importance of the nongovernmental sector for effective governance. Indeed, because of the usually weak regional political constituency, the private sector often takes the lead in regional governance initiatives. However, private sector efforts are only successful to the extent that coalitions can be developed with political leaders. The author conducted a study of regionalism in the Chicago metropolitan area where leaders from both sectors have recently formed organizations to address regional issues. He analyzed the two organizations and whether a regional regime can develop given the region’s political culture of local government autonomy and the history of antagonism between the central city and the suburbs. |
