ABSTRACT
Local and state institutional influences on economic and community development as well as policy outcomes are compared across the four communities. Differing institutional forms of governance, political cultures and levels of consensus have combined to produce differing solutions in apparently similar circumstances. Generally, the more managerialist forms of governance seen in Sterling and Hibbing, with detailed policy management functions delegated away from elected boards, produce a more business-focused approach to economic development, while forms of governance of economic and community development centered on elected officials on the city councils in Ely and Rock Falls produce an approach more geared to general-purpose infrastructure and enhancing community amenities.
