The political economy of the local state

Dramatic changes in urban government activities and alliances have occurred over the last decade in the advanced capitalist countries. This chapter on the political economy of the local state analyzes why these changes occur and their implications. Of special interest are the interactions of the state apparatus with different class groups. The local state is the set of governmental institutions acting in a locality: the combination of government departments and agencies (federal, state, urban or regional in their spatial jurisdictions) that take action with respect to a locality. This definition of the local state is a straightforward, descriptive one: other definitions are also used in political economy (Fincher 1987).