Urban Politics

Abstract

Local or regional political authorities with territorial jurisdiction are ubiquitous in Western societies, though their forms vary considerably. Urban politics refers both to what local state agencies do and to the external, mobilised social groups which try to influence their policies. Local states make decisions which affect life in cities; and at the same time, sections of the populations of those cities, through their attempts at influencing local government, in elections, movements and campaigns, reciprocally affect the state and its policies. Often it is difficult to separate clearly what is the effect of local, what of national, agencies, and indeed the proper competences of each is a centuries-old source of dispute. Understanding politics is therefore an essential aspect of a satisfactory urban sociology.