Pub Date : 2024-07-27DOI: 10.1177/0160323x241262047
Jonathan Winburn, Robert Brown, Nichole Gligor
In this field note, we examine the changing distribution of TANF spending patterns across the states. Given the important shift from the more restrictive categorical grant of AFDC to the more flexible block grant of TANF, examining patterns of spending across program categories is an important facet for understanding states’ welfare efforts. Overall, there has been a general decrease in the percentage of state TANF spending on cash assistance. Using a new measure of party dominance, we find that Democratic states initially spent a higher share of their TANF funds on cash assistance than Republican states. However, by the 2010s this partisan difference basically disappeared with Democratic states spending patterns matching those of Republican states, focusing less on cash assistance and giving greater priority to areas less reflective of TANF’s principal objectives.
{"title":"State Partisan Dominance and the Distribution of TANF Funds, 2000–2018","authors":"Jonathan Winburn, Robert Brown, Nichole Gligor","doi":"10.1177/0160323x241262047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323x241262047","url":null,"abstract":"In this field note, we examine the changing distribution of TANF spending patterns across the states. Given the important shift from the more restrictive categorical grant of AFDC to the more flexible block grant of TANF, examining patterns of spending across program categories is an important facet for understanding states’ welfare efforts. Overall, there has been a general decrease in the percentage of state TANF spending on cash assistance. Using a new measure of party dominance, we find that Democratic states initially spent a higher share of their TANF funds on cash assistance than Republican states. However, by the 2010s this partisan difference basically disappeared with Democratic states spending patterns matching those of Republican states, focusing less on cash assistance and giving greater priority to areas less reflective of TANF’s principal objectives.","PeriodicalId":52260,"journal":{"name":"State and Local Government Review","volume":"84 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141798497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-23DOI: 10.1177/0160323x241262816
Pedro Robles, Daniel J. Mallinson
This study examines the multifaceted mechanisms driving the adoption of autonomous vehicle (AV) policy in the United States. Drawing from diffusion and network governance theories, it explores the intricate interplay between state governments, private industry, and shared mobility services in shaping AV policies. Several states like California, Nevada, and Texas have emerged as frontrunners in AV testing and innovation. However, policymakers grapple with unique challenges related to AV technology, including safety, liability, and infrastructure enhancement, necessitating innovative policy solutions. As AVs signify a transformative shift in transportation, state governments assume a pivotal role in policy innovation and experimentation. Using a blend of dyadic quantitative analysis and qualitative interviews, this study examines to what extent policy learning predominantly drives AV policy adoption. In doing so, we explore specific diffusion mechanisms, including policy learning and competitive dynamics, to understand how they shape the early adoption of AV policies across states. We find substantial evidence for interstate learning facilitated by intergovernmental organizations and the private sector.
{"title":"Policy Learning and the Diffusion of Autonomous Vehicle Policy in the American States","authors":"Pedro Robles, Daniel J. Mallinson","doi":"10.1177/0160323x241262816","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323x241262816","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the multifaceted mechanisms driving the adoption of autonomous vehicle (AV) policy in the United States. Drawing from diffusion and network governance theories, it explores the intricate interplay between state governments, private industry, and shared mobility services in shaping AV policies. Several states like California, Nevada, and Texas have emerged as frontrunners in AV testing and innovation. However, policymakers grapple with unique challenges related to AV technology, including safety, liability, and infrastructure enhancement, necessitating innovative policy solutions. As AVs signify a transformative shift in transportation, state governments assume a pivotal role in policy innovation and experimentation. Using a blend of dyadic quantitative analysis and qualitative interviews, this study examines to what extent policy learning predominantly drives AV policy adoption. In doing so, we explore specific diffusion mechanisms, including policy learning and competitive dynamics, to understand how they shape the early adoption of AV policies across states. We find substantial evidence for interstate learning facilitated by intergovernmental organizations and the private sector.","PeriodicalId":52260,"journal":{"name":"State and Local Government Review","volume":"122 28","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141812107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-12DOI: 10.1177/0160323x241254806
Peter Wilschke
This study examines political factors influencing US state fiscal policy cyclicality. US states largely pursue procyclical fiscal policy, despite the federal government operating countercyclically. Institutional factors, such as balanced-budget rules, have been examined as influences on state cyclicality, with little prior focus on political factors. This article examines the impacts of electoral competitiveness, political polarization, and legislative turnover on state cyclicality. The combination of polarization and turnover is associated with procyclical policy, while the effect of competition on cyclicality is conditional on year from election. Both effects vary during economic upturns compared to downturns. State institutional design implications are considered.
{"title":"Political Drivers of State Fiscal Cyclicality","authors":"Peter Wilschke","doi":"10.1177/0160323x241254806","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323x241254806","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines political factors influencing US state fiscal policy cyclicality. US states largely pursue procyclical fiscal policy, despite the federal government operating countercyclically. Institutional factors, such as balanced-budget rules, have been examined as influences on state cyclicality, with little prior focus on political factors. This article examines the impacts of electoral competitiveness, political polarization, and legislative turnover on state cyclicality. The combination of polarization and turnover is associated with procyclical policy, while the effect of competition on cyclicality is conditional on year from election. Both effects vary during economic upturns compared to downturns. State institutional design implications are considered.","PeriodicalId":52260,"journal":{"name":"State and Local Government Review","volume":"39 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141353375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-20DOI: 10.1177/0160323x241248405
Mary R. Anderson, Lakshmi Jayaram, Kathryn VanderMolen
This is a qualitative exploratory research study of confidence and the emergence of women as candidates for state and local elected office. Our study consists of over 30 hours of interviews with 20 women candidates running for state and local office where we explore the sources of confidence that motivate women to run for office. Our interviews with women candidates suggest confidence is tied to egalitarian families and robust network support, strong educational credentials and background, as well as a multitude of professional and community leadership experiences.
{"title":"She Said Yes! An Exploration of Confidence Among Women Who Run for Political Office","authors":"Mary R. Anderson, Lakshmi Jayaram, Kathryn VanderMolen","doi":"10.1177/0160323x241248405","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323x241248405","url":null,"abstract":"This is a qualitative exploratory research study of confidence and the emergence of women as candidates for state and local elected office. Our study consists of over 30 hours of interviews with 20 women candidates running for state and local office where we explore the sources of confidence that motivate women to run for office. Our interviews with women candidates suggest confidence is tied to egalitarian families and robust network support, strong educational credentials and background, as well as a multitude of professional and community leadership experiences.","PeriodicalId":52260,"journal":{"name":"State and Local Government Review","volume":"45 14","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141118954","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-18DOI: 10.1177/0160323x241242387
Steven Deller, Craig S. Maher
This study revisits how local fiscal policies, specifically taxing and expenditures, affect economic growth. Using a panel (1990–2020) of Wisconsin general-purpose governments, we estimate a fixed effects variable parameter model and find that taxes have a dampening effect on the growth rate in income prior to the Great Recession but a positive effect over recent years. We also find that the impact of taxes on growth varies across community income levels. For lower income places taxes have a dampening effect on growth, but a positive effect in higher income areas. The results suggest that the impact of fiscal policies on economic growth vary over time and income levels. As such, blanket statements that high taxes harm the business climate and hence economic growth are generally not supported by the research.
{"title":"Do Local Fiscal Decisions Impact Economic Growth: The Case of Wisconsin","authors":"Steven Deller, Craig S. Maher","doi":"10.1177/0160323x241242387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323x241242387","url":null,"abstract":"This study revisits how local fiscal policies, specifically taxing and expenditures, affect economic growth. Using a panel (1990–2020) of Wisconsin general-purpose governments, we estimate a fixed effects variable parameter model and find that taxes have a dampening effect on the growth rate in income prior to the Great Recession but a positive effect over recent years. We also find that the impact of taxes on growth varies across community income levels. For lower income places taxes have a dampening effect on growth, but a positive effect in higher income areas. The results suggest that the impact of fiscal policies on economic growth vary over time and income levels. As such, blanket statements that high taxes harm the business climate and hence economic growth are generally not supported by the research.","PeriodicalId":52260,"journal":{"name":"State and Local Government Review","volume":"113 42","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141125874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-17DOI: 10.1177/0160323x241252584
Yunni Deng, Mark Skidmore
This study examines the relationship between changing house prices and assessed value in the Detroit Michigan region. Using parcel-level data from 2008 through 2016, we construct a Hedonic Housing Price Index and an Assessed Value Index for 120 Michigan assessing jurisdictions in the five-county region surrounding Detroit (Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne). Our findings are consistent with the literature, indicating at least a three-year lag between changes in house prices and changes in property assessments. Communities considered to be distressed tended to over-assess properties before the crisis, but these communities recalibrated assessments to better align with market conditions after the financial crisis. Our evaluation also shows that while assessed values decreased more slowly than housing prices fell during the crisis, assessed values tended to fall to even deeper levels than housing prices over a longer time horizon. JEL Codes: H71, H83, G01
{"title":"A Regional Analysis of the Impacts of Changes in Housing Values on Property Tax Assessment During and After the 2008 Financial Crisis","authors":"Yunni Deng, Mark Skidmore","doi":"10.1177/0160323x241252584","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323x241252584","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the relationship between changing house prices and assessed value in the Detroit Michigan region. Using parcel-level data from 2008 through 2016, we construct a Hedonic Housing Price Index and an Assessed Value Index for 120 Michigan assessing jurisdictions in the five-county region surrounding Detroit (Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne). Our findings are consistent with the literature, indicating at least a three-year lag between changes in house prices and changes in property assessments. Communities considered to be distressed tended to over-assess properties before the crisis, but these communities recalibrated assessments to better align with market conditions after the financial crisis. Our evaluation also shows that while assessed values decreased more slowly than housing prices fell during the crisis, assessed values tended to fall to even deeper levels than housing prices over a longer time horizon. JEL Codes: H71, H83, G01","PeriodicalId":52260,"journal":{"name":"State and Local Government Review","volume":"60 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140964738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-06DOI: 10.1177/0160323x241251782
Jacqueline Chattopadhyay
Public policy serves older Americans well but also skirts major challenges—one being many communities’ “age (un)friendliness.” This paper investigates whether local government policymakers in the United States emphasize some “domains” of age friendliness over others, of those defined by the World Health Organization, when describing local-level services for older adults. It finds they do but that they give all eight domains some attention and give infrastructure domains more attention than social and informational domains. These results suggest that policymakers are supportive of age friendliness overall.
{"title":"What Makes a Community Age Friendly? Policymakers Emphasize Physical Over Social Factors","authors":"Jacqueline Chattopadhyay","doi":"10.1177/0160323x241251782","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323x241251782","url":null,"abstract":"Public policy serves older Americans well but also skirts major challenges—one being many communities’ “age (un)friendliness.” This paper investigates whether local government policymakers in the United States emphasize some “domains” of age friendliness over others, of those defined by the World Health Organization, when describing local-level services for older adults. It finds they do but that they give all eight domains some attention and give infrastructure domains more attention than social and informational domains. These results suggest that policymakers are supportive of age friendliness overall.","PeriodicalId":52260,"journal":{"name":"State and Local Government Review","volume":"82 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141011032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-19DOI: 10.1177/0160323x241245433
Frankline Muthomi
This field notes provide insights into how local officials value different participatory procedures used to inform and invite the public to participation activities, and participatory mechanisms used to solicit public input during budget decision-making processes. The analysis is based on a framework that helps categorize and assess traditional, non-digital participatory practices versus modern, digital ones. Using survey responses from local officials in Oregon, the findings reveal greater value for modern methods like government websites and social media to inform and invite residents to public participation activities, but more traditional methods like public hearings and citizen committees to solicit their input. The author offers practical suggestions for fostering meaningful public engagement, and the need for practitioners is to be adaptable to innovative strategies that guarantees their participatory procedures and mechanisms are inclusive, accessible, and responsive to the changing needs of communities.
{"title":"Perceived Values of Public Participation Practices in Budgeting: Insights From Incorporated Local Governments in Oregon","authors":"Frankline Muthomi","doi":"10.1177/0160323x241245433","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323x241245433","url":null,"abstract":"This field notes provide insights into how local officials value different participatory procedures used to inform and invite the public to participation activities, and participatory mechanisms used to solicit public input during budget decision-making processes. The analysis is based on a framework that helps categorize and assess traditional, non-digital participatory practices versus modern, digital ones. Using survey responses from local officials in Oregon, the findings reveal greater value for modern methods like government websites and social media to inform and invite residents to public participation activities, but more traditional methods like public hearings and citizen committees to solicit their input. The author offers practical suggestions for fostering meaningful public engagement, and the need for practitioners is to be adaptable to innovative strategies that guarantees their participatory procedures and mechanisms are inclusive, accessible, and responsive to the changing needs of communities.","PeriodicalId":52260,"journal":{"name":"State and Local Government Review","volume":" 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140683179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-09DOI: 10.1177/0160323x241232969
Kwami Adanu
This paper revisits options for strengthening local governance by increasing own revenues in local government jurisdictions. Using stochastic frontier and recursive structural equation methods, the paper estimates the effects of central government transfers and tax effort on own revenues in the Ghanaian local government system. Results show that contrary to some recent findings that transfers reduce own revenues for local jurisdictions in Ghana, increasing transfers to local jurisdictions increases (rather than reduces) own revenues in Ghana. Further, local government performance in public service provision was found to be critical for increasing own revenues. Making the Ghanaian local government system more sustainable thus requires increasing central government transfers and providing technical support to strengthen the relationship between available public services and own revenues.
{"title":"Intergovernmental Transfers and Local Revenues Again—A Relook at the Ghanaian Local Government Case","authors":"Kwami Adanu","doi":"10.1177/0160323x241232969","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323x241232969","url":null,"abstract":"This paper revisits options for strengthening local governance by increasing own revenues in local government jurisdictions. Using stochastic frontier and recursive structural equation methods, the paper estimates the effects of central government transfers and tax effort on own revenues in the Ghanaian local government system. Results show that contrary to some recent findings that transfers reduce own revenues for local jurisdictions in Ghana, increasing transfers to local jurisdictions increases (rather than reduces) own revenues in Ghana. Further, local government performance in public service provision was found to be critical for increasing own revenues. Making the Ghanaian local government system more sustainable thus requires increasing central government transfers and providing technical support to strengthen the relationship between available public services and own revenues.","PeriodicalId":52260,"journal":{"name":"State and Local Government Review","volume":"18 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140722243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-18DOI: 10.1177/0160323x241232166
M. Pezer, Branko Stanić, Thom Reilly
The purpose of this study was to explore the receptiveness of Croatian local governmental officials in adopting a council-manager reform model of governance, given the low administrative and fiscal capacities of many Croatian cities. We surveyed all 128 cities in Croatia with a response rate of 48% ( n = 61). Sixty-two percent of top administrators were skeptical that this reform model was feasible. Our data suggest a desire of city administrators for shielding administrative functions from political ones as half of all respondents felt political pressure in budgeting and personnel issues. This was amplified through the qualitative data where respondents cited political parties’ control in city administration and interference in administrative functions. Chief obstacles to implementing reform components focused on concerns about the political influence of politicians.
{"title":"The Adoption of Council-Manager Model of Governance in Croatia: An Exploratory Study","authors":"M. Pezer, Branko Stanić, Thom Reilly","doi":"10.1177/0160323x241232166","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0160323x241232166","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study was to explore the receptiveness of Croatian local governmental officials in adopting a council-manager reform model of governance, given the low administrative and fiscal capacities of many Croatian cities. We surveyed all 128 cities in Croatia with a response rate of 48% ( n = 61). Sixty-two percent of top administrators were skeptical that this reform model was feasible. Our data suggest a desire of city administrators for shielding administrative functions from political ones as half of all respondents felt political pressure in budgeting and personnel issues. This was amplified through the qualitative data where respondents cited political parties’ control in city administration and interference in administrative functions. Chief obstacles to implementing reform components focused on concerns about the political influence of politicians.","PeriodicalId":52260,"journal":{"name":"State and Local Government Review","volume":"147 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140233769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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