The politics of special road districts abolishment in Missouri, 1970-1975

Abstract

This study seeks to describe and explain the politics of dissolution of special road districts in Missouri from 1970 through 1974. It focuses on successful road district dissolutions in twenty Missouri counties during the five-year period. Dissolutions in three Missouri counties--Boone, Cole, and Cooper--are objects of intensive research attention, since those dissolutions were highly complex in terms of political activity. But each of the other seventeen counties experiencing road district dissolutions receive substantial attention regarding their road district abolishment politics. The dissertation is basically organized in case-study format. Very little previous work has been done on the general topic, and the study proceeded on the basis of a number of elementary hypotheses: 1. That the most extensive political activity would occur in districts where the material stakes as measured by budgets and jobs were greatest. 2. That road commissioners would oppose abolishment efforts in their desire to sustain their personal political influence. 3. That county court judges would support abolishment efforts to add to their counties' budgets and authority. 4. That urban and rural road district residents would be split on the abolishment question. The research strategy required an extensive number of interviews with actual and/or potential participants in dissolution politics in each of the twenty counties. The major political actors interviewed were county court judges, road commissioners of dissolved road districts, county clerks and county treasurers. But many others identified as participants in the individual political frays were interviewed. The survey instrument chosen for interviews sought open-ended responses. The wording of its questions was designed to take into consideration the language and conceptual frameworks of respondents who were overwhelmingly from rural settings. The findings tend to confirm certain hypotheses and to require modification of others. With respect to hypothesis number one, it was found that the most hotly contested dissolution efforts were in those districts with substantial budgetary stakes. Conversely, political activity was relatively negligible in those districts where the material stakes were insignificant. With respect to hypothesis number two, it was found that county court judges were split in their support of road district dissolution. With respect to hypothesis number three, it was found that road district commissioners were also divided in their opposition to road district dissolution. Finally, with respect to hypothesis number four, an urban-rural dichotomy on road district dissolution questions was not found to be a general political phenomenon, although instances of this were detected. This study offers some encouragement to those who would seek to eliminate special road districts by proving that the task is by no means impossible. Unlike municipal and county governments, special road districts have not, for the most part, gained the loyalties and allegiances of the populations which they serve. The questions of timing and tactics are important, however, as the case studies show.