Today's New York Times contains a story documenting the changing reputation of a man who used to head the city's parks commission from 1934-1960. His name was Robert Moses and though he was never elected to an office, he is more responsible for the current face of New York City than anyone else in recent history.
Because this involved the forced removal of thousand of citizens and the destruction of many old and established communities, assessments of his impact have been negative the past few decades. A book called The Power Broker was responsible for shaping the way that he has been judged, but now a handful of museum exhibits are raising the questiosn that without hos efforts to streamline transportation, create public parks and expand infrastructure, if New York City would not be going through its current boom.
This raises issues appropriate to both 2301 and 2302. One cannot argue that he made decisions in a democratic process, but it seems that much of what he did worked to the long term benefit of the people of NYC. He did so by consolidating his influence over the various political players in the region and imposing solutions to problems.
Democracies may be legitimate, but they can be indecisive.
It also reminds us that at root, cities are economic engines and decision making within them often serves that purpose primarily.
