scholarly journals Defended or defunded? Local and state policy outcomes of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathis Ebbinghaus ◽  
Nathan Bailey ◽  
Jacob Rubel
Keyword(s):  
Local Politics ◽  
State Politics ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Large White ◽  
Electoral Incentives ◽  
Black Lives Matter ◽  
Political Incentives

This article provides novel evidence on the local policy outcomes of the largest protest movement in U.S. history: the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Building on a hand-compiled dataset containing information on the 300 largest cities in the United States, data on state legislation, and comprehensive protest data, we assess whether two core political demands of the movement were realized. We find that protest did not affect city police budgets but did lead to the adoptions of state police reform. We do not find compelling evidence that protest affected agenda setting at the state-level. Although inconsequential in local politics overall, protest proved counterproductive in cities with large white population shares and large Republican population shares. We argue that local and state politics offer different political opportunities for protests to succeed. In state politics, protest creates electoral incentives to make political concessions. In local politics, a lack of political threat and the perception of protest as inconvenient create political incentives to resist policy change.

All Politics Is Local: The Reemergence of the Study of City Politics

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 611-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Trounstine
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Politics ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Political Outcomes

The study of local politics has been relegated to the periphery of political science and many explanations have been offered for the marginalization of the subfield. I offer three related arguments for why scholars should revisit the study of sub-state politics. First, the local level is the source of numerous political outcomes that matter because they represent a large proportion of political events in the United States. Secondly, there are methodological advantages to studying local politics. Finally, analyzing politics at the sub-state level can generate thoroughly different kinds of questions than a purely national-level focus and can offer different answers to questions that apply more generally. Research on local politics can and should contribute to broader debates in political science and ensure that we understand both how and why cities are unique.

Citizen Partisanship, Local Government, and Environmental Policy Implementation

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 675-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Switzer
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Political Incentives ◽  
Cooperative Federalism

Local governments play a large, if understudied, role in the implementation of environmental policy in the United States. The major environmental statutes outline explicit responsibilities for the federal and state governments in enforcement under a cooperative federalism framework, and a literature on environmental federalism has developed looking at how variables at the state level affect implementation. Largely ignored by this literature is the important part local governments play in implementation. This study explores one way local politics may influence implementation, investigating the effect of citizen preferences on municipal compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The findings show that utilities in Democratic leaning areas violate the SDWA less frequently than those in Republican leaning areas. The results suggest that just as politics influence environmental policy implementation at the federal and state levels, the local role in environmental policy is inherently tied to the political incentives facing municipalities.

What do advocates want from policy research? Evidence from elite surveys

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake Haselswerdt ◽  
Elizabeth Rigby
Keyword(s):  
Policy Research ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
State Context

Background: Policy advocates play a key role linking the separate worlds of research and policymaking – often serving as research brokers who increase the use of research and promoting more informed decision making. Yet this group is often overlooked in studies of research utilisation.Methods: We undertook two surveys of state-level advocates in the United States in order to better understand the views of these ‘research brokers’ on the utility of research and the characteristics of research most needed in the policymaking process.Findings: The advocates we surveyed report that research plays an important, if limited, role in shaping the policy outcomes in their state. They value objective and unbiased research, as evidenced by the credibility of the source, and relevance to their state context. At the same time, advocates were not particularly interested in novel research on unfamiliar outcomes in other policy domains, instead preferring studies that stick to the familiar framing of the issue dominant in the policy community in which they work. Advocates use research findings primarily as justification for their policy positions.Discussion and conclusion: Perceived impartiality and objectivity are a major asset of academic researchers seeking to influence the policy process. Advocates value this credibility and other sources of information that they can use to justify their policy positions. At the same time, their preference for familiar rather than novel findings may limit the degree to which policy advocates can serve as intermediary for such results, hampering the ability of research to reframe policy debate.<br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>Advocates value policy research from objective, unbiased sources like universities.</li><br /><li>Liberal and conservative advocates value research that justifies their (distinct) policy positions.</li><br /><li>Research on novel problems or indicators is less likely to be used by advocates.</li><br /><li>Advocates can serve as effective research brokers, but not equally for all forms of research.</li></ul>

Women in Local Government

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirya R. Holman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Gender Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Policy Attitudes

Women are underrepresented in most elected and appointed positions in local government in the United States. This essay details what we know about women’s representation in cities and counties, with a discussion of the factors associated with women’s higher or lower levels of representation. The effects of women’s lack of parity are then discussed including policy attitudes, the policy process, and policy outcomes. In sum, this essay organizes knowledge on women in local government, identifies gaps in what we know, and promotes future investigations to expand our knowledge of gender politics, local politics and governance, and public policy.

Universal Pre-Kindergarten: Supporting High Quality and Broad Access at a Time of Federal Disengagement and “School Choice”

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Gomez-Velez
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Federal Policy ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Policy Goal ◽  
High Quality ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Impact

At the turn of the twenty-first century, public universal pre-kindergarten (UPK) gained momentum across the United States as a widely popular public policy goal. More recently, however, implementing high-quality UPK has been hampered by federal disengagement from the issue, fiscal constraints, and conflicting state policy approaches. This chapter examines the growth of UPK as an important policy goal on the federal and state levels; the impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and a new presidential administration on federal policy disengagement from the issue; and varying degrees of state fiscal support and state and local policy approaches in thwarting the full realization of UPK’s promise. This examination notes the urgent need for a policy focus on the equitable delivery of high-quality programs if UPK is to improve future educational outcomes and help close opportunity gaps. Universal access will not achieve pre-kindergarten’s benefits without high-quality programming. If universal pre-kindergarten’s promise is to be achieved, the federal and state governments must work in tandem to ensure that all children, starting with those most in need of early education, have access to high-quality, age-appropriate UPK. Because ESSA limits federal policy prescriptions, advocacy must focus on the state level, using evidence-based lessons from research and experience.

scholarly journals How State Interventions affect Municipalities Taking the Lead in Sustainability

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6479
Author(s):  
Jayce L. Farmer ◽  
Andres J. Rodriguez Lombeida
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
State Energy ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Multilevel Governance ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Internal Operations ◽  
State And Local

The state and local governments throughout the United States interact within a complex system of multilevel governance to advance sustainability. However, we know little about what this hierarchical system of exchanges means for municipalities as they work to achieve energy efficient government operations. Drawing on a perspective of “contested federalism”, we examine how the transaction costs of state–local government relations affect the efforts of U.S. cities to lead by example and promote sustainability within their internal processes. We apply a Bayesian item response theory approach to assess the effects of state-level fiscal and policy interventions on municipal commitments to energy efficiency programs within their internal operations. Our findings suggest that increased fiscal support for state energy programs enhances municipal commitments to government focused energy efficiency. We also find a positive connection between state energy efficiency standards and municipal efforts to enhance energy efficiency within their internal operations. The alignment of state resources and policy efforts with municipal actions can reduce commitment and agency costs that obstruct policy outcomes. The findings speak to the importance of multilevel governance exchanges in municipal efforts to become leaders in sustainability.

Sovereignty Renewed

2019 ◽  
pp. 199-220
Author(s):  
Timothy LeGrand
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Collaboration ◽  
State Level ◽  
Policy Networks ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Global Policy ◽  
Do So

Public policy is increasingly confounded by transnational policy challenges. The proliferation of global policy dilemmas—climate change, migration, terrorism, economic instability, and so on—diminishes state-level officials’ capacity to deliver local policy outcomes without some form of international collaboration. Yet it is becoming increasingly apparent that international organizations are not always equipped, politically or organizationally, to offer the necessary collaborative mechanisms to tackle many of these challenges. This chapter explores this emergent ‘global–local dilemma’ and questions how policy officials reconcile international and domestic imperatives in managing modern transnational policy challenges. To do so, this chapter examines the rise of transnational policy networks in the Anglosphere. Using interview and policy data, the concerted efforts of Anglosphere civil servants to overcome the global–local dilemma through collaboration and cooperation is revealed, through which insights are generated into how domestic officials interact in the international domain.

The Dark Side of Policy Responsiveness: State Action on Climate Change

The Forum ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-222
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Causal Reasoning ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Policy Position ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
The Impact

AbstractClimate change is an ever-growing problem that requires a network of policy solutions. There exists variation in state-level responses to climate change, firmly placing it within the context of state-level representation. There are various explanations for policy outcomes at the state level, including public opinion, institutional control, interest group activity, among others. With respect to climate change, another potential explanation provided by scholars for the variation in policy responses is the degree of risk posed by climate change to a particular state. However, climate change serves as a somewhat unique policy position as it is highly visible and has been a polarizing issue in American political discourse. This paper analyzes how risk, political control, and opinion affect policy responses to climate change. Employing multiple measures for state-level action on climate change as well as state-level opinion on the existence and perceived threat of climate change, this analysis theorizes that given the polarized nature of the climate change debate in the United States, public opinion on the realities of climate change and partisan control of state government influences policy outcomes more so than any level of quantified threat from climate change. The causal reasoning for this dual effect is the impact of citizen demands and overarching party ideologies. Even when controlling for wealth, energy industry activity, and political lobbying within states, findings indicate a strong relationship between citizen opinion and partisan control on state-level action on climate change, posing a challenge for combatting long-term impacts of climate change.

Dismantling White Privilege: The Black Lives Matter Movement and Environmental Justice in Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Teelucksingh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
The United States ◽  
Conceptual Tool ◽  
Public Monuments ◽  
Black Lives Matter ◽  
Jim Crow Era

On August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, alt-right/White supremacy groups and Black Lives Matter (BLM) supporters came face-to-face regarding what to do about public monuments that celebrate key figures from slavery and the Jim Crow era. White supremacists and White nationalists did not hide their racist ideologies as they demanded that their privileged place in history not be erased. The BLM movement, which challenges state-sanctioned anti-Black racism, was ready to confront themes of White discontent and reverse racism, critiques of political correctness, and the assumption that racialized people should know their place and be content to be the subordinate other.It is easy to frame the events in Charlottesville as indicative of US-specific race problems. However, a sense that White spaces should prevail and an ongoing history of anti-Black racism are not unique to the United States. The rise of Canadian activism under the BLM banner also signals a movement to change Canadian forms of institutional racism in policing, education, and the labor market. This article responds to perceptions that the BLM movement has given insufficient attention to environmental concerns (Pellow 2016; Halpern 2017). Drawing on critical race theory as a conceptual tool, this article focuses on the Canadian context as part of the author’s argument in favor of greater collaboration between BLM and the environmental justice (EJ) movement in Canada. This article also engages with the common stereotype that Blacks in Canada have it better than Blacks in the United States.

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