Toward a Reckoning of Urban Political Economy and Public Choice

• In Event: Race and Politics: New Theoretical and Methodical Insights v. Old Paradigms

Abstract

Urban centers often serve as introductions to public life for residents—they act as the gateway to public engagement; however, they also act as the centers for segregation, wealth disparities and community failures. This decline in the engaged urban center has been the trend for the last five decades. Even with this decline in public engagement, scholars have also seen the urban centers become innovation centers. This paper explores the innovative capacity of local governments to create change. Since cities serve as microcosms for civic life, they are great places to organize public life and explore the human condition. Toward this end, this paper asks the questions: what are the public expectations of the local government? Using survey data, this paper explains the way that people understand their relationship to local government. It provides a quantitative approach to individuals relationship to local government in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta. This paper goes on to use budget data in these three cities to see if the individual expectations match the local spending. The paper finds that there is a disconnect among the expectation and spending practices at the local level. Even though individuals have a public expectation, the local officials tend to prioritize different things. The public policy implications of this paper are vast, but one important one is to better understand the ways that cities innovate in spite of expressed consent by the individuals.

Author

• Meghan Wilson, The University of Chicago