Dr. Lori Riverstone-Newell published The Local Power & Politics Review, an annual report examining local governments’ power and capacity to meet local needs.
The first edition of The Local Power & Politics Review offers a comprehensive look at the wide reach of state preemption in communities across our nation and the effects of that state interference on people’s health, social, and economic well-being. The Local Power & Politics Review reflects the best thinking and analysis from the researchers, legal scholars, and on-the-ground advocates who are fighting back against abusive preemption and leading the charge to course-correct through preemption repeal efforts and home rule reform.
To accomplish this goal, 14 experts agreed to work as advocate-researcher co-authors to produce short articles highlighting recent research findings, emerging issues, and data and research needs across seven policy fields: public health; civil rights and discrimination; environment policy; emerging technologies; housing policy; labor policy; and local fiscal authority. The resulting articles offer insight into the state-local political environment as it appears in each policy field. The authors suggest the potential effects of local constraints and, when available, point the reader to evidence-based research findings. Attempts to recover local power are discussed, often with calls for research into the efficacy of specific approaches, such as preemption repeal or litigation. Finally, each article suggests specific avenues for future research.
Support for this research was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.
