Max Neiman

Characteristics of Support for Local Growth Control

It is often contended that support for local limitations on residential development results from the demands of the affluent, who wish to ensure limited access to their communities. This contention, along with alternative explanations of local growth-control support, are examined. The article explores empirical dimensions of support for elect orally induced control of residential development. A major finding, which utilizes a discriminant function analysis of a random sample survey of registered voters, is that under some circumstances there may be no relationship between measures of affluence or socioeconomic status and support for limiting residential development. In addition, the findings reveal the possible existence of substantial, wide-based support for protection of the local environment that is related to a commitment to the role of government in maintaining local amenities and services. The article concludes with an analysis of local growth control as an issue that significantly defines the agenda of suburban politics and the concerns of a broad spectrum of American citizens.

Environmentalism and Local Growth Control A Probe into the Class Bias Thesis

This is a report probing certain aspects of the argument that environmentalism and environmental protection policies are class biased in favor of the middle and upper classes. Survey data from a local growth control dispute are employed to test some assertions regarding the conditions under which a class division between supporters and opponents arises. The findings suggest that such divisions are likely to occur when the environmental policy has some immediate and real significance for the respondent, as opposed to being abstract or hypothetical, or when strong class appeals are made by a dominating campaign organization.

Community Social Status, Suburban Growth, and Local Government Restrictions on Residential Development

Residential development restrictions among Southern California suburban jurisdictions are examined. The purpose of the analysis is to assess the relative importance of various measures of community status, partisanship, and growth as predictors of local policy to regulate residential development. Social status and growth rates appear to account for some of the interurisdictional variation in policy, although it is clear that excluded factors are also important. Several issues regarding the study of local development policy and what might affect findings from study to study are also addressed.

Representation and Local Policy Relating County-Level Public Opinion to Policy Outputs

Students of local politics have argued American federalism implies little role for local tastes in policy making. Peterson (1979) anticipates the pursuit of a productive tax base will depress subnational government spending on social services, while promoting developmental policies. We investigate the role public opinion plays in county-level redistributive, developmental, and allocational program spending in California, using a novel measure of county political ideology. Our findings challenge expectations that local governments are uniformly biased against redistribution. We find that social service spending varies across counties as a function of ideological orientation. In several policy areas, institutional structure mediates the responsiveness of officials.

Local Development Policies and the Foreclosure Crisis in California: Can Local Policies Hold Back National Tides?

Can local governments shape the long-run fortunes of their communities through their own policies, or is the autonomy of localities swamped by larger macroeconomic forces? This study considers the relationship between California municipalities’ policy orientations toward residential development at the start of the housing boom in the late 1990s and the subsequent incidence of foreclosures during the housing crisis in 2008 and 2009. The authors find that cities reported to have stronger city council opposition to residential growth had a lower incidence of foreclosures a decade later, even after controlling for the rate of increase in the housing stock and other local economic, demographic, and geographic characteristics. Although the foreclosure crisis was driven by national and global forces, more cautious local government policy approaches to residential growth appeared to moderate the damage.

Concern over Immigration and Support for Public Services

THE CALIFORNIA Journal of Politics & Policy Volume 2 , Issue 1 Concern over Immigration and Support for Public Services Eric McGhee and Max Neiman Public Policy Institute of California Abstract This paper presents data and analysis suggesting that immigration as an issue has ramified on to a broader policy agenda than “just” immigration. We show that, con- trolling for a wide range of political and demographic variables, those who say that immigration is the most important problem facing the state of California are more likely to want a smaller government that provides fewer services. However, we also find that this link weakens as the number of people concerned about immigration grows. The results suggest that public concern over immigration can be, within some range, a potent means of rallying voters against government. This potential, however, weakens as the proportion of individuals concerned about immigration rises beyond a certain level. KEYWORDS: immigration, public services, public policy, California Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank Bruce Cain, Jack Citrin, Ken- neth Fernandez, Nathan Kalmoe, Thad Kousser, Dowell Myers, Carole Tolbert, and participants in the Governing a Multi-Ethnic California conference for helpful comments and suggestions. www.bepress.com/cjpp

Public Support for Transportation Sales Taxes in California: A Two County Assessment

DOI 10.1515/cjpp-2012-0009 Calif. J. Politics Policy 2013; 5(4): 645–670 Andrew D. Green*, Max Neiman, Shel Bockman and Barbara Sirotnik Public Support for Transportation Sales Taxes in California: A Two County Assessment Abstract: Voters in California counties have been asked to approve transporta- tion sales taxes on over 75 different occasions, and according to the Legislative Analyst, revenues from local option transportation sales taxes accounted for 15% of all revenues raised statewide for transportation during fiscal year 2005/2006. While many analyses examining public support for such taxes have been under- taken using aggregate-level data, little work has been done examining the indi- vidual decision to support a transportation sales tax at the polls. In this paper, we argue that an individual’s propensity to approve or deny a sales tax extension for transportation purposes is a function of a set of attitudinal and self-interest factors. Using a two-county survey, we find that opposition to the renewal of the existing sales tax is centered among anti-tax, political conservative residents who do not trust elected officials. Furthermore, we find that while the two counties border one another, the impact of the attitudinal and self-interest factors in the model vary significantly by county. The findings are important for transportation practitioners who face future transportation sales tax elections, and for politi- cal scientists who are attempting to develop a generalizable set of factors which explain public support for transportation sales taxes. Keywords: county; elections; sales tax; transportation. *Corresponding author: Andrew D. Green, Central College, Political Science, Campus Box #0101, 812 University Pella, Iowa 50219, USA, Tel.: +641-628-5259, e-mail: greena@central.edu Max Neiman: Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA Shel Bockman and Barbara Sirotnik: Institute of Applied Research & Policy Analysis, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, USA 1 Introduction Over a decade ago a coalition of highway-oriented interests referred to Califor- nia’s roads and freeways in the following way: California, which once had the best highway system in the country, now ranks near the bottom nationally, as investment in the state’s transportation infrastructure has failed to keep pace with population growth and burgeoning vehicle travel. (Transportation California 1999: p. 3)

Institutional Threat and Partisan Outcomes: Legislative Candidates' Attitudes toward Direct Democracy

This study uses a three-state survey to examine how state legislators and legislative candidates view the ballot initiative process. We hypothesize that state legislators see the initiative as a rival to the legislature, and that the initiative is evaluated in terms of expectations about policy outcomes. We test whether opinions about the initiative are related to legislative incumbency, partisan interests, or both. We find that incumbents, regardless of party, are more interested in constraining the initiative than non-incumbents. We also find an independent effect of partisanship, with Republicans having a more positive view of the initiative than Democrats.

Analogues and Policy Analysis

understanding of how and why certain variables operate to affect policy output. What is needed are theoretical inquiries from which statements can be derived that explain and integrate the large number of empirical regularities extant in the policy output literature. Available data and concepts are used here to help convince political scientists of the need for and feasibility of refashioning the manner in which they currently examine policy output determinants, particularly at the state and local government levels. Using what Willer (1967) calls the theory-model method, theoretical properties of political systems are heuristically posited to facilitate or hamper responsiveness to the policy demands of relatively newly mobilized populations. These theoretical properties are derived from an illustrative adaptation

The competitive city : the political economy of suburbia

This work analyzes the effect of competition among suburban communities to attract residents and businesses with the best public services and the lowest taxes. Using data from a large sample of suburban cities, Mark Schneider offers a theoretical extension of the Tiebout-Peterson approach to understanding public policies and integrates this perspective with recent work on the power of bureaucrats to control budgets.