Parties as an organizational force on nonpartisan city councils

Abstract

Canonical models of urban politics have often treated political parties as clientelistic patrons rather than ideological entities. I argue that parties play an important role in organizing local legislatures at the microlevel. I examine the influence of political parties in local legislatures by systematically analyzing elected officials’ behavior. By examining roll call votes cast by city council members in San Diego, I conclude that partisan coalitions play an important role in structuring local politics. My results suggest that elite party membership predicts legislative behavior—even in nonpartisan legislatures—which may help explain why partisan versus nonpartisan elections do not produce divergent policy outcomes at the macrolevel.