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Representation in Municipal Government

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  • TAUSANOVITCH, CHRIS
  • WARSHAW, CHRISTOPHER

Abstract

Municipal governments play a vital role in American democracy, as well as in governments around the world. Despite this, little is known about the degree to which cities are responsive to the views of their citizens. In the past, the unavailability of data on the policy preferences of citizens at the municipal level has limited scholars’ ability to study the responsiveness of municipal government. We overcome this problem by using recent advances in opinion estimation to measure the mean policy conservatism in every U.S. city and town with a population above 20,000 people. Despite the supposition in the literature that municipal politics are non-ideological, we find that the policies enacted by cities across a range of policy areas correspond with the liberal-conservative positions of their citizens on national policy issues. In addition, we consider the influence of institutions, such as the presence of an elected mayor, the popular initiative, partisan elections, term limits, and at-large elections. Our results show that these institutions have little consistent impact on policy responsiveness in municipal government. These results demonstrate a robust role for citizen policy preferences in determining municipal policy outcomes, but cast doubt on the hypothesis that simple institutional reforms enhance responsiveness in municipal governments.

Suggested Citation

  • Tausanovitch, Chris & Warshaw, Christopher, 2014. "Representation in Municipal Government," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 108(3), pages 605-641, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:108:y:2014:i:03:p:605-641_00
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    1. Weber, Johann, 2017. "Policy entrepreneurs and opportunities: Establishing a model of policy change through bicycle infrastructure at the municipal level," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 252-263.
    2. Laura A. Reese & Xiaomeng Li, 2020. "Conceptions of Local Economic Development: Comparing Citizen and Local Official Attitudes," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 34(1), pages 3-20, February.
    3. Hanrui Zeng & Terence Tai-Leung Chong, 2018. "Does studying in Hong Kong affect the ideological preferences of Chinese mainland undergraduates?," Economic and Political Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(4), pages 431-444, October.
    4. Makarin, Alexey & Piqué, Ricardo & Aragón, Fernando, 2020. "National or sub-national parties: Does party geographic scope matter?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    5. Culver, Gregg, 2017. "Mobility and the making of the neoliberal “creative city”: The streetcar as a creative city project?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 22-30.
    6. Roberto Brunetti & Matthieu Pourieux, 2023. "Representative Policy-Makers? A Behavioral Experiment with French Politicians," Working Papers 2319, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    7. Robert W. Orttung & James Powell & James Fox & Claire Franco, 2019. "Strengthening Food Security Near the Arctic Circle: Case Study of Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, May.
    8. Seungyoon Lee & Bailey C. Benedict & Yue ‘Gurt’ Ge & Pamela Murray‐Tuite & Satish V. Ukkusuri, 2021. "An application of media and network multiplexity theory to the structure and perceptions of information environments in hurricane evacuation," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 72(7), pages 885-900, July.
    9. Brian Y. An & Adam Butz & Min-Kyeong Cha & Joshua L. Mitchell, 2023. "Following neighbors or regional leaders? Unpacking the effect of geographic proximity in local climate policy diffusion," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(4), pages 825-868, December.
    10. Lerner, Joshua Y. & McCubbins, Mathew D. & Renberg, Kristen M., 2021. "The efficacy of measuring judicial ideal points: The mis-analogy of IRTs," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    11. David Switzer, 2020. "The Context of Responsiveness: Resident Preferences, Water Scarcity, and Municipal Conservation Policy," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(2), pages 260-279, March.
    12. Evan Mast, 2020. "Warding Off Development: Local Control, Housing Supply, and NIMBYs," Upjohn Working Papers 20-330, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    13. Aycan Katitas & Sonal Pandya, 2024. "Investment incentives attract foreign direct investment: evidence from the great recession," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 200(1), pages 323-345, July.
    14. Köhler, Ekkehard & Matsusaka, John G. & Wu, Yanhui, 2023. "Street-level responsiveness of city governments in China, Germany, and the United States," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 640-652.
    15. David Szakonyi, 2018. "Private Sector Policymaking," Working Papers 2018-8, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    16. Benedict S. Jimenez, 2017. "Institutional Constraints, Rule-Following, and Circumvention: Tax and Expenditure Limits and the Choice of Fiscal Tools During a Budget Crisis," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 5-34, June.
    17. Whittemore, Andrew H. & BenDor, Todd K., 2018. "Talking about density: An empirical investigation of framing," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 181-191.
    18. Lucas, Jack, 2024. "Are Municipal Politicians Ideological Moderates?," OSF Preprints vq28b, Center for Open Science.
    19. Straus, Graham, 2024. "The Economic Background of City Councilmembers," OSF Preprints 38evc, Center for Open Science.
    20. Wittman, Donald, 2024. "District versus at-large voting: Why district voting results in worse policy for minorities," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    21. Anthony P Cannizzaro & Robert J Weiner, 2018. "State ownership and transparency in foreign direct investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(2), pages 172-195, February.

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