Local vs National: How Party Competition Favors Coalitional Stability in US Municipalities

Political science long held that U.S. local governments, often one-party dominated, would lack stable coalitions and democratic accountability compared to national systems.

This paper evaluates this theory using an original collection of roll-call records from 151 municipal councils across America.

Electoral Context

• Analyzed roll-call behavior in diverse U.S. local governments
• Compared partisan elections versus nonpartisan election systems
• Investigated balanced vs unbalanced party distributions

Key Findings

• Roll-call voting shows more one-dimensional patterns when elections are partisan and voters evenly split between parties
• When either condition is absent, legislative coalitions remain unstable across time and issues

Implications for Research

The results demonstrate that competitive partisan elections translate electoral dynamics into stable local governance. This suggests democratic accountability depends significantly on maintaining party competition rather than solely relying on formal institutions.