Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: The Proximate Polity: Exit, Space, and Networks in Local Development Politics

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This project examines the economic and political context that policymakers in US cities face when formulating economic development policy. Much previous research has investigated local decision-making based on the economic and political characteristics of the single local jurisdiction. This project builds on these efforts by examining how the attributes of other jurisdictions influence policy behavior. People have the power to change where they live, where they work, where they spend their money, and where they vote. This potential for geographic mobility has important implications for which policies cities pursue as well as how they interact with other jurisdictions. The dissertation focuses on the opportunities and constraints presented by spatial and network contexts: the policy and demographic characteristics of other nearby jurisdictions and the social-informational connections between local officials.The researcher asks three questions about how the spatial and network attributes of cities influence local development policy: (1) How do city officials determine who their development competitors and development partners are? (2) How do the policy choices and economies of jurisdictional neighbors influence the amount of fiscal resources cities put toward development? (3) How do economic competition and inter-jurisdictional relationships influence cooperative development policy? The theories tested start from the idea that economic development policy is not risk-free. The short-term costs of development (e.g. traffic, noise, environmental disturbance) can lead to budgetary and political consequences if long-term benefits (e.g. jobs, increased property values, increased wages) are not realized. Geographic context and network signals should help officials make assessments about the likelihood that long-term benefits will be realized. In a nutshell, the caution of local policy-makers should lead them to use the policies and population characteristics of nearby jurisdictions to help them make their own choices.The project takes a multi-method approach to exploring these questions and testing hypotheses. The researcher uses statistical models incorporating geographic attributes, social-network analyses, and interviews with policy makers. The work completed so far for the dissertation upholds theoretical expectations, but has been restricted to the Denver Metropolitan Area. NSF funding makes possible expansion of the researcher's survey of mayors and city managers to additional metropolitan areas, and also supports the conduct of interview-based case studies. The expanded survey permits the collection of data not available in existing resources, such as information on policies pursued in each city studied, respondents' assessments of how policy decisions were made, their perceptions of economic and political risk associated with policies, and information on the formal and informal relationships with policy-makers in other cities.The project makes several broader contributions. It sheds light on the complex constraints that local officials face as they take on development challenges in economically uncertain times. Federal and state lawmakers, along with constituents, place demands on local officials with the expectation that policy adjustments will lead to a specific set of outcomes. This research suggests that the calculus of local officials is much more nuanced. Policy expectations need to account for the broader metropolitan policy environment and inter-jurisdictional connections officials have with one another.