IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/pubcho/v47y1985i1p121-162.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Demographic factors affecting constitutional decisions: the case of municipal charters

Author

Listed:
  • Steven Maser

Abstract

After decades of studying municipal charters largely by looking for patterns in the data, we have a good basis for proceeding more formally with testable theories. The political significance of demographic change becomes apparent by looking at its impact on political conflict in combination with the biases in social-choice rules. The theory of civil rights provides a framework for doing this. It suggests identifying (1) the distribution of civil rights conveyed to citizens by alternative charters and (2) the bases for political conflict, such as different demands for services and the unequal command of economic resources to satisfy them. Charters, then, become political tools. Simple statistical tests fail to refute this. The methodology employed in these tests follows logically from the theory. However, untangling region from the state laws is easier than untangling ethnicity or even race from income as explanatory variables. Understanding cultural differences that may well create value conflicts independent of financial ones will be still more difficult. Furthermore, some population changes should be considered endogenous to a theory of charter reform. Better estimates will require multiple-equation formulations that can handle simultaneity. In sum, more thought, better data, and more refined tests are necessary. How deterministic can we be in making predictions? Some ambiguity may be inherent in studying institutions such as city charters. The significance of a particular provision is not always the same because of its complex interactions with other provisions. The context in which citizens enact a provision is, of course, all important. The more subtle the impact of the provision, the more subtle the contextual factors that induced its enactment. That may justify close historical analysis informed by a theory of constitutional contracts, but it inhibits prediction. Still, predicting the direction and rate of change in municipal charters should be within the realm of possibilities. Copyright Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 1985

Suggested Citation

  • Steven Maser, 1985. "Demographic factors affecting constitutional decisions: the case of municipal charters," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 121-162, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:47:y:1985:i:1:p:121-162
    DOI: 10.1007/BF00119355
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/BF00119355
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/BF00119355?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    2. Boyle, John & Jacobs, David, 1982. "The Intracity Distribution of Services: A Multivariate Analysis," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 76(2), pages 371-379, June.
    3. Douglas Massey, 1979. "Residential segregation of Spanish Americans in united states Urbanized Areas," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 16(4), pages 553-563, November.
    4. Milton Kafoglis & Richard Cebula, 1981. "The Buchanan-Tullock model: Some extensions," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 179-186, January.
    5. Mincer, Jacob, 1978. "Family Migration Decisions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(5), pages 749-773, October.
    6. Richard Cebula, 1979. "Living costs, the Tiebout hypothesis, and welfare policy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 129-130, March.
    7. Richard Cebula, 1974. "Local government policies and migration," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 85-93, September.
    8. Morgan, David R. & Pelissero, John P., 1980. "Urban Policy: Does Political Structure Matter?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(4), pages 999-1006, December.
    9. Jones, Bryan D. & Greenberg, Saadia R. & Kaufman, Clifford & Drew, Joseph, 1977. "Bureaucratic Response to Citizen-Initiated Contacts: Environmental Enforcement in Detroit," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(1), pages 148-165, March.
    10. North, Douglass C., 1971. "Institutional Change and Economic Growth," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 118-125, March.
    11. Wolfinger, Raymond E. & Osgood Field, John, 1966. "Political Ethos and the Structure of City Government," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(2), pages 306-326, June.
    12. Kessel, John H., 1962. "Governmental Structure and Political Environment: A Statistical Note about American Cities," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(3), pages 615-620, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. SALMON, Pierre, 1999. "Ordinary elections and constitutional arrangement," LATEC - Document de travail - Economie (1991-2003) 1999-10, LATEC, Laboratoire d'Analyse et des Techniques EConomiques, CNRS UMR 5118, Université de Bourgogne.
    2. Edward J. Mathis & Charles E. Zech, 1989. "The Median Voter Model Fails an Empirical Test: The Procedure, Useful in the Absence of a Better One, Is Not Valid for Multidimensional Issues," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 79-87, January.
    3. David Mitchell, 2023. "Priority‐based budgeting: An honest broker among municipal functions?," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 21-37, March.
    4. Mark Lubell & Richard C. Feiock & Edgar E. Ramirez De La Cruz, 2009. "Local Institutions and the Politics of Urban Growth," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(3), pages 649-665, July.
    5. Zachary Spicer, 2015. "Cooperation and Capacity: Inter-Municipal Agreements in Canada," IMFG Papers 19, University of Toronto, Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance.
    6. Junghack Kim & Bruce D McDonald & Jongmin Shon, 2022. "Does the charter form lead to lower borrowing costs? Examining the case of California local governments," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(1), pages 85-102, March.
    7. Ghassan Elkahlout, 2018. "Reviewing the Interactions between Conflict and Demographic Trends in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: The Case of The Gaza Strip," Journal of Sustainable Development, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(3), pages 212-212, May.
    8. Keith Ihlanfeldt, 2011. "Local government structure and the quality of minority neighborhoods," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 69-91, April.
    9. David Mitchell & Sarah E. Larson & Terry Henley & Auria Spranger & Suzette Myser, 2022. "A reflection of changing priorities? The reallocative impact of priority‐based budgeting in US municipalities," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 3-22, September.
    10. Pengju Zhang & Phuong Nguyen‐Hoang, 2023. "Home rule and municipal revenue stability: New evidence from Texas," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 38-60, March.
    11. Sarah E. Larson & Bruce D. McDonald, 2023. "Taxation and citizen choice: The effect of a county charter on property taxes," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 64-84, March.
    12. Elinor Ostrom, 1989. "Microconstitutional Change in Multiconstitutional Political Systems," Rationality and Society, , vol. 1(1), pages 11-50, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roumasset, James, 1978. "The new institutional economics and agricultural organization," MPRA Paper 13175, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Zhao, Jihong & Ren, Ling & Lovrich, Nicholas P., 2010. "Budgetary support for police services in U.S. municipalities: Comparing political culture, socioeconomic characteristics and incrementalism as rival explanations for budget share allocation to police," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 266-275, May.
    3. Roumasset, James A., 1994. "Explaining Diversity In Agricultural Organization: An Agency Perspective," Bulletins 12982, University of Minnesota, Economic Development Center.
    4. Robert H. Bates, 1988. "Contra Contractarianism: Some Reflections on the New Institutionalism," Politics & Society, , vol. 16(2-3), pages 387-401, June.
    5. Jongwook Kim & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2005. "Property rights theory, transaction costs theory, and agency theory: an organizational economics approach to strategic management," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 223-242.
    6. Scott E. Page, 2008. "Uncertainty, Difficulty, and Complexity," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 20(2), pages 115-149, April.
    7. Ménard, Claude, 2017. "Meso-institutions: The variety of regulatory arrangements in the water sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 6-19.
    8. Head, Thomas, 1981. "Modeling Institutional Change in Rural Egypt," Working Papers 232846, University of California, Davis, Agricultural Development Systems: Egypt Project.
    9. repec:ags:ucdegw:232846 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Menard, Claude, 1995. "Markets as institutions versus organizations as markets? Disentangling some fundamental concepts," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 161-182, October.
    11. Todorova, Tamara, 2022. "Оливър Уилямсън: Новатор На 20 Век И Основател На Новата Институционална Икономика [Oliver Williamson: an innovator of the 20th century and founder of the new institutional economics]," MPRA Paper 121077, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Jongwook Kim & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2002. "Resource-based and property rights perspectives on value creation: the case of oil field unitization," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(4-5), pages 225-245.
    13. Mohammad Tariq Al Fozaie, 2023. "The 'Bad Behavior Index': A Composite Measure of the Development Hindering Behavior of Individuals and Institutions," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business (continues Analele Stiintifice), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 70(1), pages 115-161, March.
    14. Scott E. Page, 1998. "Uncertainty, Difficulty, and Complexity," Research in Economics 98-08-076e, Santa Fe Institute.
    15. Alan Barrett & Philip J. O’Connell, 2001. "Is There a Wage Premium for Returning Irish Migrants?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 32(1), pages 1-21.
    16. Tomas J. Philipson & Seth A. Seabury & Lee M. Lockwood & Dana P. Goldman & Darius N. Lakdawalla, 2010. "Geographic Variation in Health Care: The Role of Private Markets," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 41(1 (Spring), pages 325-361.
    17. Baarda, James R., 2003. "Current Law & Economics Debates: Tools for Assessing Fundamental Cooperative Changes?," 2003 Annual Meeting, October 29 31802, NCERA-194 Research on Cooperatives.
    18. Ugo Pagano, 2010. "Marrying in the Cathedral: A Framework for the Analysis of Corporate Governance," Chapters, in: Alessio M. Pacces (ed.), The Law and Economics of Corporate Governance, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Ahn T. Le, 2003. "Female Labour Market Participation: Differences Between Primary and Tied Movers," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 03-17, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    20. Soufiane Mezzourh & Walid A Nakara, 2009. "Governance and innovation : A Knowledge-based approach [La gouvernance de l'innovation : une approche par la connaissance]," Post-Print halshs-01955966, HAL.
    21. David J. Cooper & Krista Saral & Marie Claire Villeval, 2021. "Why Join a Team?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(11), pages 6980-6997, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:47:y:1985:i:1:p:121-162. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.