Local Elections and the Politics of Small-Scale Democracy

by J. Eric Oliver, Shang E. Ha, Zachary Callen

Local government is the hidden leviathan of American it accounts for nearly a tenth of gross domestic product, it collects nearly as much in taxes as the federal government, and its decisions have an enormous impact on Americans' daily lives. Yet political scientists have few explanations for how people vote in local elections, particularly in the smaller cities, towns, and suburbs where most Americans live. Drawing on a wide variety of data sources and case studies, this book offers the first comprehensive analysis of electoral politics in America's municipalities.


Arguing that current explanations of voting behavior are ill suited for most local contests, Eric Oliver puts forward a new theory that highlights the crucial differences between local, state, and national democracies. Being small in size, limited in power, and largely unbiased in distributing their resources, local governments are "managerial democracies" with a distinct style of electoral politics. Instead of hinging on the partisanship, ideology, and group appeals that define national and state elections, local elections are based on the custodial performance of civic-oriented leaders and on their personal connections to voters with similarly deep community ties. Explaining not only the dynamics of local elections, Oliver's findings also upend many long-held assumptions about community power and local governance, including the importance of voter turnout and the possibilities for grassroots political change.

Genres: Politics

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2012

About the author

Eric Oliver is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and studies American politics, public opinion, political psychology, local politics, racial attitudes, and the politics of science.

His current research examines why people believe in conspiracy theories, why liberals and conservatives name their children differently, why 2016 was a populist election, and what is changing in America's democracy.

His latest book, Enchanted America: The Struggle between Reason and Intuition in US Politics (publication in September 2018), argues that the major political divisions in America right now are not between liberals and conservatives, but between "intuitionists" and "rationalists."

Reviews

[Marc Sabatier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very neat book, that argues that local politics are custodial in nature and low-conflict, so low participation doesn't necessarily mean that interests are being misrepresented. Chapters are also accompanied by entertaining anecdotes, which makes the tome enjoyable to read.

However, the data representation in tabular form is quite boresome - would've nicer with some figures to show the argument.

[Annie Jarman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oliver et. al. point out that most political science research is focused on national elections and posit the claim that these findings do not apply to the majority of local politics due to differences in government size, scope, and bias.

[kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for class;

[Genie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important and welcome addition to the study of urban politics. There is. Dry little theory or empirical information about local elections and this book makes significant contributions to adding theory and what empirical results are so far available.