��������������������������
�������������������������������
While ������ ���� dominates in
socioeconomics , there are also many examples of �������� , such as protests , alternative campaigns , and other forms of resistance . Specifically , power to transitions from ��������� the ������� to act ( Stone , 1980 ). Meadows ( 1999 ) contends that growth is a positive feedback loop as a large , profit-making corporation , it is an example of how such feedback loops “ in society reward the winners of the competition with the resources to win even bigger next time . “ Rich people collect interest ; poor people pay it ” ( p . 12 ). In 2012 , activists gathered outside Target ’ s shareholder meeting to challenge the company ’ s decision to make political donations through Super PACs , a practice Target had embraced in the 2010 election . Target had given $ 150,000 in 2010 to a Minnesota organization supporting a candidate who opposed gay marriage . This triggered protests from gay rights groups , and Target apologized . This protest was an example of a high leverage point . Meadows ( 1999 ) contends that negative feedback loops can create weakened loops . Meadows ( 1999 ) provides an example of the Toxic Release Inventory , which required factories to report their yearly emissions . With the reporting , emissions dropped 40 %. Citizen outrage was a form of negative feedback that pushed chemical companies to do all they could to “ get off the list ” ( Meadows , 1999 , p . 13 ).
Fighting city hall with balancing feedback sometimes works . Citizens in Sacramento swayed their city council to deny a permit to build a McDonald ' s franchise ( Croker , 2012 ). In this way , power was exercised as mutual choice . �������� , positive , or reinforcing feedback , created new possibilities with input from the public . It created increased stability in the system , increasing order on the same path , thus creating a constricted future , or output .
The Meso Level : The Cultural Element
�������������������������������
For nearly 70 years , urban sociology
has noted the importance of culture for understanding the urban environment ( Firey , 1945 ), as well as the importance of identity , community life , and organization ( Borer , 2006 ; Small , 2004 ). There are , however , few studies that have examined the complexities of how power and culture are related . Marxist theories leave little space for personal agency , and the growth machine theory constructs tend to underrate the norms and expectations that produce the cultural contexts in which development politics actually happens . Vaughan ( 1998 argues city governments and other en������ are characterized as part of the growth machine function under socially entrenched “ cultures of production ” ���� ���� These are the “ in-stitutionalized cultural belief systems that shaped interpretation , meaning and action at the local level .” xxx In cities where these cultural beliefs are formalized through the vote , culture influences local-growth de-cision-making , such as tax rates , planning principles , property values , or even who to talk with to get problems solved .
For this second analytical level , Stone ( 1980 ) describes the intergroup level : “ when situational and indirect elements of power are put together in the political context , the combination brings to light the situational dependency of official decision makers on one set of participants that prevents other participants from having an equal chance to further their interests through the political proces� ” ���� ������ We suggest that this ������������������������
28