Local Elections in United States

Local Campaigns and Elections

Timothy B. Krebs, in the chapter “Local Campaigns and Elections” of the Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government, offers some insight and critically assesses the situation and current state of scholarship on the topic. The following is a summary:Despite a substantial increase in the number and quality of studies on local elections and campaigns, the field remains in its infancy. Research on minority and female officials at the local level has given way to a more concerted effort to understand the nature of voter turnout and vote choice in city elections. In this article the author argues that cities and other local governments are inviting places to study given the variety of local political contexts, institutional arrangements, and the presence of multi-racial and multi-gender candidate pools. We know that institutional arrangements, namely At-large systems of representation, hinder the ability of minority groups to achieve success in winning local office, and that coalition building among racial and ethnic groups is often needed to win. We also have some sense that cities’ institutional arrangements influence voter turnout, but there is debate about which features are most important. The author explores these research gaps among other directions for future research.

Further Reading

• “Local Campaigns and Elections”, The Oxford Handbook of American Politics