Governing States and Localities

• The new edition is available as a digital option through SAGE Vantage, an intuitive digital platform that offers auto-graded assignments and interactive multimedia tools—including video—all designed to enable students to better prepare for class.

All chapters have been revised substantially, with the content updated throughout to reflect the latest issues, trends, and political changes, including the following:

• Analysis of the results of the 2020 elections.
• Discussion of the most important state supreme court decisions and constitutional debates.
• The growing impact of political polarization at the state and even local levels, and the implications of the nationalization of party politics for sub-national governance.
• Increased focus on the core pedagogical theme of the comparative method, including a number of completely new features highlighting “a difference that makes a difference.”
• New updates on state and local responses to coronavirus and the pandemic’s impact on state–federal relations.
• Updated coverage of the impact of the Donald Trump presidency on intergovernmental relations and issues of central interest to states and localities.
• Updates to “The Latest Research” sections at the ends of all chapters, where recent scholarship is put into the context of what students have just read.

• “A Difference That Makes a Difference” boxes provide clear examples of how variations among states and localities can be used to explain a wide range of political and policy phenomena. These pieces detail the ways the institutions, regulations, political culture, demographics, and other factors of a particular state shape its constitution, the way its political parties function, how its citizens tend to vote, how it allocates its financial resources, and why its courts are structured the way they are, to name a few.
• “Local Focus” boxes spotlight the ways localities function independently of the states and show how they are both constrained and empowered by intergovernmental ties. From battles to wrest control of their budgets from the state to constitutional restrictions on how they can tax and spend, the topics addressed in these boxes showcase the rich variety represented in these nearly 87,000 substate entities.
• “Policy in Practice” boxes demonstrate how different states and localities have interpreted and implemented the legislation handed down from higher levels of government, and the consequences of these decisions. The impact of declining agency fees on public unions, the difficulties and implications of city-county mergers, and the policy implications of the power imbalance between states and localities are just some of the issues addressed.
• “Top Ten Takeaways” reinforces key themes and ideas. Each chapter also includes a set of highlighted key concepts. These terms are defined near the places where they are introduced in the text and are compiled into a list at the end of each chapter, with corresponding page numbers. A comprehensive glossary of key terms precedes the book’s index.