Socialist Mayors in the United States

David R. Berman is professor emeritus of political science at Arizona State University and author of numerous books, including Local Government and the States: Autonomy, Politics, and Policy; Governors and the Progressive Movement; and Radicalism in the Mountain West, 1890-1920: Socialists, Populists, Miners, and Wobblies.

Preface Introduction: Going from Outsider to Insider 1. The Party Framework 2. Municipal Reform: Where the Socialists Fitted In 3. The Socialist Municipal Program 4. Socialist Mayors: The Rising and Falling Tide 5. Getting There, Staying There 6. Coming In, Progress, and Problems 7. Being Mayor: Limitations, Opportunities, and Roles 8. Managing, Budgeting, Cleaning Up the Town 9. The Working Class, Labor, and Business Conclusion Appendix 1: Biographies of Featured Mayors Appendix 2: Municipalities with Social Administration, 1898-1920 Notes Bibliography Index

"In Socialist Mayors in the United States: Governing in an Era of Municipal Reform, 1900-1920, David R. Berman places these mayors in a larger context of Progressive governmental reform that focused on chief executives as change agents who could provide more efficient, honest, and trustworthy administrations. His study covers the entire process of running for election, the coalitions that brought Socialist mayors to victory, and a thorough analysis of their governing abilities along with the challenges they faced in being able to live up to their goals as Socialists when in office. Berman's book is a much-needed study of US democratic Socialism at the grassroots level that clearly demonstrates that Socialism was not a foreign import but a truly American political movement."--Greg Hall, author of Writing Labor's Emancipation: The Anarchist Life and Times of Jay Fox "For far too long scholars and readers have been without a volume that traces on-the-ground municipal Socialism during its Progressive Era high point. David Berman has carefully chronicled the country's Socialist mayors during this important radical period. Those interested in the history of the US Left broadly and American Socialism specifically will no doubt be grateful to have Berman's excellent and sweeping volume at hand."--Jeffrey Johnson, author of "They Are All Red Out Here" Socialist Politics in the Pacific Northwest, 1895-1925 and The 1916 Preparedness Day Bombing: Anarchy and Terrorism in Progressive Era America "David R. Berman's fascinating new book directs our attention to Socialists in small-town and small-city America, showing us how they positioned themselves both as ardent critics of capitalism and as people ready to tackle the everyday problems of their communities. We learn about Socialist politics and ideological debates in this deeply researched book, but also about the relationship between Socialism and left-progressive reform as well as how parties and local and municipal government worked. Political historians and scholars of radical politics will find this a valuable study."--Paula Baker, author of Curbing Campaign Cash: Henry Ford, Truman Newberry, and the Politics of Progressive Reform