Pushing the City Limits Policy Responsiveness in Municipal Government

• Published in: Urban affairs review (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 3 - 32
• Main Authors: Einstein, Katherine Levine, Kogan, Vladimir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2016; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Cities; Constituents; Cross sections; Democracy; Expenditures; Fiscal policy; Government spending; Governments; Local government; Menus; Municipal government; Policies; Public policy; Service areas; Voter behavior; Voters; city politics; redistribution; partisanship; budgetary politics
• ISSN: 1078-0874; 1552-8332
• DOI: 10.1177/1078087414568027

Are city governments capable of responding to the preferences of their constituents? Is the menu of policy options determined by forces beyond their direct control? We answer these questions using a comprehensive cross-sectional database linking voter preferences to local policy outcomes in more than 2,000 midsize cities and a new panel covering cities in two states. Overall, our analysis paints an encouraging picture of democracy in the city: we document substantial variation in local fiscal policy outcomes and provide evidence that voter preferences help explain why cities adopt different policies. As they become more Democratic, cities increase their spending across a number of service areas. In addition, voter sentiment shapes the other side of the ledger, determining the level and precise mix of revenues on which cities rely. In short, we show that cities respond both to competitive pressures and the needs and wants of their constituents.