The Power to Plan in American Metropolitan Areas.

Recent literatures make it abundantly clear that social and political power can be greatly diffused in an almost infinite variety of ways. The United States is no exception to this pattern, but it has one claim to special notice in few other countries has this diffusion been so carefully framed as a standard for political organization and incorporated into the constitutional law. It is quite obvious that diffusion of governmental authority and power will have inevitable consequences for the making of public decisions. There is scarcely one that does not require the participation and/or compliance of more than one unit of government, and such cooperation is by no means automatic. The purpose of this paper is to examine one set of decisions which requires the cooperation of a large number of local jurisdictions, these concern the planning for the orderly and coherent use of land in the Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area. Probably nowhere in the American political system is this diffusion of political authority seen in a more pristine state than in local government. In essence, the politically ideal plan allows for a diffused power situation by avoiding direct conflicts between the major interests and authorities.