Local Elections, Institutions, and Bureaucracies in the Global South and North

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Political institutions, public demands, and policies vary significantly across cities, and this subnational and comparative diversity allows scholars to make general inferences about the determinants of democratic representation. This panel brings a comparative perspective that spans scholarship in the Global South and North to understand the role of local electoral and bureaucratic institutions in shaping the selection of government officials, influence over governmental policies, and accountability of representatives. Papers on this panel study local elections and bureaucracies in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Mozambique, Senegal, the United States, and Zambia and underscore the importance of the relationships between local mayors, councils, bureaucrats, and citizens. Variation in local electoral and bureaucratic institutions and city-specific political dynamics affect whose voices are heard and represented in elected offices and powerful bureaucracies, with implications for key outcomes such as public service provision, law enforcement, party loyalty and competition, and climate adaptation.

Sub Unit

• Division 30: Urban Politics

Individual Presentations

• Mayoral Elections and Partisan Dynamics in Africa’s Local Governments - Danielle Elise Resnick, International Food Policy Research Institute

• Green Neighborhoods for All? Sub-municipal Voting Behavior and Service Provision - Manuela Muñoz Fuerte, Texas Tech University

• Patrimonialism as Partisanship: Oligarchic Political Competition in NE Brazil - Yuri Kasahara, Oslo Metropolitan University; F. Daniel Hidalgo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Taylor C. Boas, Boston University

• Districting without Parties: How City Council Maps Shape Minority Representation - Michael Hankinson, George Washington University; Asya Magazinnik, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Politicized Meritocracy: Determinants of Selection in City Governments - Elisa Maria Wirsching, Princeton University

Chair

• Alison E. Post University of California, Berkeley

Discussants

• Emily Rains Tulane University

• Sara Constantino Northeastern University