City Politics
City politics is a subfield of comparative politics.
Contents
Description
Work in the broader comparative politics field generally uses states as the unit of analysis. City politics instead applies these methods to cities.
Much like states, cities often do not generate sufficient quantitative data for causal inference. Assumptions about utility are also dubious at this macro level. City politics is dominated by relatively constructivist philosophies.
Reading Notes
Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, William L. Riordon, 1905
Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City, Robert Dahl, 1961
There Goes the Neighborhood: Racial, Ethnic, and Class Tensions in Four Chicago Neighborhoods and Their Meaning for America, William Julius Wilson and Richard P. Taub, 2007
City Diplomacy: From City-States to Global Cities, Raffaele Marchetti, 2021
Civil Service Adoption in America: The Political Influence of City Employees, Sarah F. Anzia and Jessica Trounstine, 2025