Abstract
One result of the inability of citizens to make themselves heard by administrative arms
of government is frustration that ultimately festers into distrust and alienation. There is
ample evidence of serious levels of generalized distrust of government and alienation from
it on the part of the citizenry (King and Stivers 1998; Nye, Zelidow, and King 1997). In the
case of Los Angeles, these feelings began taking on active and organized manifestations in
the efforts by parts of the city to secede and form their own municipal governments (Box
and Musso 2004). One of the main motivating concerns behind these movements was an
expressed belief that their communities were not receiving their fair share of public services
from city agencies. The San Fernando Valley, with over one million residents, had made
several unsuccessful attempts at secession over several decades, but state legislative changes
in the 1990s made that process less difficult. The result was that by 1999 three areas of Los
Angeles began moving through the legal process of secession: the San Fernando Valley,
Hollywood, and the L.A. Harbor areas of San Pedro and Wilmington. The San Fernando
Valley and Hollywood qualified for the ballot in a special election but did not receive enough
votes to break away (Hogen-Esch 2001; Sonenshein and Hogen-Esch 2006).