Working Families, Global Cities: Local Labor, High-SES Liberals, and U.S. Cities

• In Event: Spatial Dynamics of the American Political Economy

Abstract

The continued strengthening of the urban-rural created a local political reality in which the Republican Party has little effective presence in many large U.S. cities. Duverger’s law suggests that a two-party equilibrium should emerge under nearly all American electoral institutions, and local left/labor parties are playing this role in some major American cities, often outlining a policy agenda at odds with the late-20th century neoliberal consensus. This paper provides historical description of emergent proto-parties that serve as local political opposition in New York and Chicago. Using data from the Census, election results, public opinion, and statements by members of these emerging parties, the analyses first situates the parties in a shifting social-economic terrain, then identifies the social bases and issue priorities of these parties’ leaders and their electoral bases, and concludes with brief case studies of efforts to reform two major areas of local policy—policing and affordable housing—in each city over 2014-2021.

Author

• Thomas K. Ogorzalek, Co-Lab Research