Differences between revisions 3 and 5 (spanning 2 versions)
Revision 3 as of 2025-07-24 19:07:33
Size: 951
Comment: Link
Revision 5 as of 2026-02-13 05:32:05
Size: 1845
Comment: Details
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
Line 3: Line 3:
'''City politics''' is a broad category of political study. Cities generally do not generate sufficient quantitative data for causal inference about them internally, so almost all study is comparative. '''City politics''' is a subfield of comparative politics.
Line 6: Line 6:

----



== Description ==

Work in the broader comparative politics field generally uses states as the unit of analysis. City politics instead applies these methods to cities.

Analysis in this field will not necessarily assume rationality or utility functions, at least not for cities. Explanations generally look like 'presence of local opportunities drew in resources away from other regions'. There is structuralism, but not not necessarily individual agency.

Historically this field focused on political machines: why they emerged in some places but not others, and what structures can be instituted to combat them, and so on.
Line 15: Line 27:
 * [[WinningTheWestToMunicipalReform|Winning the West to Municipal Reform]], Amy Bridges, 1992
Line 17: Line 30:
 * [[CompanyTowns|Company Towns: Single-Industry Dominance and Local Government Capacity]], Elizabeth Mitchell Elder, 2025
Line 18: Line 32:
 * [[WhoKnowsHowToGovern|Who Knows How to Govern? Procedural Knowledge in India’s Small-Town Councils]]; Adam Michael Auerbach, Shikhar Singh, and Tariq Thachil; 2025

City Politics

City politics is a subfield of comparative politics.


Description

Work in the broader comparative politics field generally uses states as the unit of analysis. City politics instead applies these methods to cities.

Analysis in this field will not necessarily assume rationality or utility functions, at least not for cities. Explanations generally look like 'presence of local opportunities drew in resources away from other regions'. There is structuralism, but not not necessarily individual agency.

Historically this field focused on political machines: why they emerged in some places but not others, and what structures can be instituted to combat them, and so on.


Reading Notes


CategoryRicottone

PoliticalScience/CityPolitics (last edited 2026-02-13 15:46:04 by DominicRicottone)