1932
0
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Annual Review of Political Science
  4. Volume 24, 2021
  5. Article

Annual Review of Political Science

Volume 24, 2021

Party and Ideology in American Local Government: An Appraisal

Abstract

For decades, research on US local politics emphasized the distinctiveness of local government, but that has begun to change. In recent years, new data on partisanship and ideology have transformed the study of local politics. Much of the ensuing scholarship has concluded that local politics resembles politics in state and national governments: partisan and ideological. I argue that such a conclusion is premature. So far, this newer literature has been insufficiently attentive to the policies US local governments make—and to the fact that they are mostly different from the issues that dominate national politics. Going forward, scholars should prioritize measurement of preferences on these local government issues, develop theories of when and why local political divisions will mirror national partisanship and ideology, and investigate why there are links between some local policies and national partisanship and ideology—and whether those links also exist for core local government issues.

Keyword(s): ideology, local politics, national, policy, political parties, representation
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102131
2021-05-11
2024-04-19
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/polisci/24/1/annurev-polisci-041719-102131.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102131&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Abrajano MA, Nagler J, Alvarez RM 2005. A natural experiment of race-based and issue voting: the 2001 City of Los Angeles elections. Political Res. Q. 58:2203–18
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Adams GD. 1997. Abortion: evidence of an issue evolution. Am. J. Political Sci. 41:3718–37
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Adrian CR. 1952. Some general characteristics of nonpartisan elections. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 46:3766–76
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Adrian CR. 1959. A typology for nonpartisan elections. West. Political Q. 12:2449–58
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Anzia SF. 2014. Timing and Turnout: How Off-Cycle Elections Favor Organized Groups Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press
  6. Anzia SF. 2019. When does a group of citizens influence policy? Evidence from senior citizen participation in city politics. J. Politics 81:11–14
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Anzia SF, Moe TM. 2014. Collective bargaining, transfer rights, and disadvantaged schools. Educ. Eval. Policy Anal. 36:183–111
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Anzia SF, Moe TM. 2015. Public sector unions and the costs of government. J. Politics 77:1114–27
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Banfield EC, Wilson JQ. 1963. City Politics Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press/MIT Press
  10. Barreto MA. 2007. ¡Sí se puede! Latino candidates and the mobilization of Latino voters. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 101:3425–41
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Bartels LM. 2008. Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  12. Bawn K, Cohen M, Karol D, Masket S, Noel H, Zaller J 2012. A theory of political parties: groups, policy demands and nominations in American politics. Perspect. Politics 10:3571–97
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Berry CR. 2009. Imperfect Union: Representation and Taxation in Multi-Level Governments Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
  14. Berry CR, Howell WG. 2007. Accountability and local elections: rethinking retrospective voting. J. Politics 69:3844–58
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Boudreau C, Elmendorf CS, MacKenzie SA 2015. Lost in space? Information shortcuts, spatial voting, and local government representation. Political Res. Q. 68:4843–55
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Bridges A. 1997. Morning Glories: Municipal Reform in the Southwest Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  17. Bucchianeri P. 2020. Party competition and coalitional stability: evidence from American local government. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 114:41055–70
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Burnett CM. 2019. Parties as an organizational force on nonpartisan city councils. Party Politics 25:4594–608
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Burnett CM, Kogan V. 2017. The politics of potholes: service quality and retrospective voting in local elections. J. Politics 79:1302–14
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Campbell AL. 2003. How Policies Make Citizens: Senior Political Activism and the American Welfare State Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  21. Carmines EG, Stimson JA. 1989. Issue Evolution: Race and the Transformation of American Politics Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  22. Caughey D, Warshaw C. 2018. Policy preferences and policy change: dynamic responsiveness in the American states, 1936–2014. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 112:2249–66
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Caughey D, Warshaw C, Xu Y 2017. Incremental democracy: the policy effects of partisan control of state government. J. Politics 79:41342–58
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Chen AS. 2007. The party of Lincoln and the politics of state fair employment practices legislation in the North, 1945–1964. Am. J. Sociol. 112:61713–74
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Choi SO, Bae SS, Kwon SW, Feiock RC 2010. County limits: policy types and expenditure priorities. Am. Rev. Public Adm. 40:29–45
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Converse PE. 1964. The nature of belief systems in mass publics. Ideology and Discontent DE Apter 206–61 New York: Free
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Cox GW, McCubbins MD. 1993. Legislative Leviathan: Parties and Committees in the U.S. House of Representatives. Berkeley: Univ. Calif. Press
  28. Cox GW, McCubbins MD. 2005. Setting the Agenda: Responsible Party Government in the U.S. House of Representatives Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
  29. Dark TE. 1999. The Unions and the Democrats: An Enduring Alliance Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press
  30. de Benedictis-Kessner J, Warshaw C 2016. Mayoral partisanship and municipal fiscal policy. J. Politics 78:41124–38
    [Google Scholar]
  31. de Benedictis-Kessner J, Warshaw C 2020. Politics in forgotten governments: the partisan composition of county legislatures and county fiscal policies. J. Politics 82:2460–75
    [Google Scholar]
  32. DiSalvo D. 2015. Government Against Itself: Public Union Power and Its Consequences Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
  33. Einstein KL, Glick DM, Palmer M 2019. Neighborhood Defenders: Participatory Politics and America's Housing Crisis Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
  34. Einstein KL, Kogan V. 2016. Pushing the city limits: policy responsiveness in municipal government. Urban Aff. Rev. 52:13–32
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Erikson RS, Wright GC, McIver JP 1993. Statehouse Democracy: Public Opinion and Policy in the American States Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
  36. Ferreira F, Gyourko J. 2009. Do political parties matter? Evidence from U.S. cities. Q. J. Econ. 124:1399–422
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Finger LK, Hartney MT. 2019. Financial solidarity: the future of unions in the post-Janus era. Perspect. Politics. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592719003438
    [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  38. Fischel WA. 2001. The Homevoter Hypothesis Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press
  39. Fordham BO. 2007. The evolution of Republican and Democratic positions on Cold War military spending: a historical puzzle. Soc. Sci. Hist. 31:4603–36
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Gerber ER. 2013. Partisanship and local climate policy. Cityscape 15:1107–24
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Gerber ER, Hopkins DJ. 2011. When mayors matter: estimating the impact of mayoral partisanship on city policy. Am. J. Political Sci. 55:2326–39
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Gilens M. 2012. Affluence and Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  43. Grossmann M. 2019. Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
  44. Grumbach JM. 2018. From backwaters to major policymakers: policy polarization in the states, 1970–2014. Perspect. Politics 16:2416–35
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Hacker JS, Pierson P. 2014. After the “master theory”: Downs, Schattschneider, and the rebirth of policy-focused analysis. Perspect. Politics 12:3643–62
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Hajnal ZL. 2009. America's Uneven Democracy: Race, Turnout, and Representation in City Politics Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
  47. Hajnal ZL, Trounstine J. 2014. What underlies urban politics? Race, class, ideology, partisanship, and the urban vote. Urban Aff. Rev. 50:163–99
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Hankinson M. 2018. When do renters behave like homeowners? High rent, price anxiety, and NIMBYism. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 112:3473–93
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Hansen JM. 1991. Gaining Access: Congress and the Farm Lobby, 1919–1981 Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press
  50. Hertel-Fernandez A. 2019. State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States—and the Nation Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
  51. Hess FM. 2011. Our achievement-gap mania. National Affairs Fall. https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/our-achievement-gap-mania
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Hopkins DJ. 2018. The Increasingly United States: How and Why American Political Behavior Nationalized Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press
  53. Jenkins JA, Monroe NW. 2012. Buying negative agenda control in the U.S. House. Am. J. Political Sci. 56:897–912
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Jensen A, Marble W, Scheve K, Slaughter MJ 2019. City limits to partisan polarization in the American public Paper presented at the 115th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association Washington, DC: Aug. 2–Sept. 1
  55. Judd DR. 2005. Everything is always going to hell: urban scholars as end-times prophets. Urban Aff. Rev. 41:2119–31
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Karol D. 2009. Party Position Change in American Politics: Coalition Management Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
  57. Kaufmann K. 2004. The Urban Voter: Group Conflict and Mayoral Voting Behavior in American Cities Ann Arbor: Univ. Mich. Press
  58. Kogan V, Lavertu S, Peskowitz Z 2018. Election timing, electorate composition, and policy outcomes: evidence from school districts. Am. J. Political Sci. 62:3637–51
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Krehbiel K. 1993. Where's the party. ? Br. J. Political Sci. 23:2235–66
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Ladd HF, Yinger J. 1989. America's Ailing Cities: Fiscal Health and the Design of Urban Policy Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press
  61. Lax JR, Phillips JH. 2012. The democratic deficit in the states. Am. J. Political Sci. 56:1148–66
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Lee EC. 1960. The Politics of Nonpartisanship: A Study of California City Elections Berkeley: Univ. Calif. Press
  63. Lerman AE, Weaver VM. 2014. Arresting Citizenship: The Democratic Consequences of American Crime Control Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press
  64. Lindaman K, Haider-Markel DP. 2002. Issue evolution, political parties, and the culture wars. Political Res. Q. 55:191–110
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Lubell M, Feiock RC, Ramirez De La Cruz EE 2009. Local institutions and the politics of urban growth. Am. J. Political Sci. 53:3649–65
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Marble W, Nall C. 2020. Where self-interest trumps ideology: liberal homeowners and local opposition to housing development. J. Politics. In press
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Mayhew DR. 2000. Electoral realignments. Annu. Rev. Political Sci. 3:449–74
    [Google Scholar]
  68. McCarty N, Poole KT, Rosenthal H 2006. Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
  69. Moe TM. 2006. Political control and the power of the agent. J. Law Econ. Org. 22:11–29
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Moe TM. 2009. Collective bargaining and the performance of the public schools. Am. J. Political Sci. 53:1156–74
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Moe TM. 2011. Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America's Public Schools Washington, DC: Brookings Inst.
  72. Mossberger K, Stoker G. 2001. The evolution of urban regime theory: the challenge of conceptualization. Urban Aff. Rev. 36:6810–35
    [Google Scholar]
  73. O'Brian NA. 2019. Before Reagan: the development of abortion's partisan divide. Perspect. Politics 18:11059–78
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Oliver JE, Ha SE. 2007. Vote choice in suburban elections. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 101:3393–408
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Oliver JE, Ha SE, Callen Z 2012. Local Elections and the Politics of Small-Scale Democracy Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  76. Palus CK. 2010. Responsiveness in American local governments. State Local Gov. Rev. 42:133–50
    [Google Scholar]
  77. Payson JA. 2017. When are local incumbents held accountable for government performance? Evidence from US school districts. Legis. Stud. Q. 42:421–48
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Peterson PE. 1981. City Limits Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press
  79. Pierson P. 1993. When effect becomes cause: policy feedback and political change. World Politics 45:4595–628
    [Google Scholar]
  80. Poole KT, Rosenthal H. 1997. Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
  81. Reckhow S, Henig JF, Jacobsen R, Litt JA 2017. ‘Outsiders with deep pockets’: the nationalization of local school board elections. Urban Aff. Rev. 53:5783–811
    [Google Scholar]
  82. Riker WH. 1982. Liberalism Against Populism San Francisco, CA: Freeman
  83. Rohde D. 1991. Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press
  84. Sances MW. 2018. Ideology and vote choice in U.S. mayoral elections: evidence from Facebook surveys. Political Behav 40:737–62
    [Google Scholar]
  85. Sances MW. 2019. When voters matter: the limits of local government responsiveness. Urban Aff. Rev. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087419878812
    [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  86. Schaffner BF, Rhodes JH, La Raja RJ 2020. Hometown Inequality: Race, Class, and Representation in American Local Politics New York: Cambridge Univ. Press
  87. Schattschneider EE. 1961. The Semi-Sovereign People New York: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston
  88. Schickler E. 2016. Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932–1965 Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  89. Schleicher D. 2007. Why is there no partisan competition in city council elections: the role of election law. J. Law Politics 23:4419–74
    [Google Scholar]
  90. Shor B, McCarty N. 2011. The ideological mapping of American legislatures. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 105:3530–51
    [Google Scholar]
  91. Stimson JA, Mackuen MB, Erikson RS 1995. Dynamic representation. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 89:3543–65
    [Google Scholar]
  92. Stone CN. 1989. Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946–1988 Lawrence: Univ. Press Kans.
  93. Strunk KO, Grissom JA. 2010. Do strong unions shape district policies? Collective bargaining, teacher contract restrictiveness, and the political power of teachers’ unions. Educ. Eval. Policy Anal. 32:3389–406
    [Google Scholar]
  94. Sundquist JL. 1973. The Dynamics of the Party System: Alignment and Realignment of Political Parties in the United States Washington, DC: Brookings Inst.
  95. Tausanovitch C, Warshaw C. 2013. Measuring constituent policy preferences in Congress, state legislatures, and cities. J. Politics 75:2330–42
    [Google Scholar]
  96. Tausanovitch C, Warshaw C. 2014. Representation in municipal government. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 108:3605–41
    [Google Scholar]
  97. Thompson DM. 2020. How partisan is local law enforcement? Evidence from sheriff cooperation with immigration authorities. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 114:1222–36
    [Google Scholar]
  98. Trounstine J. 2008. Political Monopolies in American Cities: The Rise and Fall of Bosses and Reformers Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press
  99. Trounstine J. 2009. All politics is local: the reemergence of the study of city politics. Perspect. Politics 7:3611–18
    [Google Scholar]
  100. Trounstine J. 2018. Segregation by Design: Local Politics and Inequality in American Cities Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
  101. Trounstine J, Valdini ME. 2008. The context matters: the effects of single member versus at-large districts on city council diversity. Am. J. Political Sci. 52:3554–69
    [Google Scholar]
  102. Warshaw C. 2019. Local elections and representation in the United States. Annu. Rev. Political Sci. 22:461–79
    [Google Scholar]
  103. Weaver VM. 2007. Frontlash: race and the development of punitive crime policy. Stud. Am. Political Dev. 21:2230–65
    [Google Scholar]
  104. Wolbrecht C, Hartney MT. 2014. “Ideas about interests”: explaining the changing partisan politics of education. Perspect. Politics 12:3603–30
    [Google Scholar]
  105. Wood C. 2002. Voter turnout in city elections. Urban Aff. Rev. 38:2209–31
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102131
Loading
  • Article Type: Review Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error