A Quiet Revolution: The Consolidation of Jacksonville-Duval County and the Dynamics of Urban Political Reform - New Edition

Jacksonville's consolidated local government finds itself at a half-century crossroads. On October 1, 1968, in the aftermath of government corruption, fiscal instability and disaccredited schools, Jacksonville merged its city and county governments into a single consolidated City of Jacksonville. That monumental step created what is today the largest city by area in the contiguous United States and the 12th largest by population. More than fifty years later, as the Jacksonville Charter Revision Commission meets to consider the future of consolidated government, our community continues to debate how consolidation has worked and how it has fallen short. The Jacksonville Historical Society commissioned this 50th Anniversary edition of A Quiet Revolution. It includes original author Richard Martin’s historical accounts from the 1968 and 1993 editions and features former City of Jacksonville Chief of Staff Chris Hand’s chronicle of consolidated government from 2008 to 2019 – and his discussion of the issues that might define consolidation’s next 50 years.