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Sustainability and Interest Group Participation in City Politics

Author

Listed:
  • Jeffrey M. Berry

    (Department of Political Science, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA)

  • Kent E. Portney

    (Department of Political Science, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA)

Abstract

Many cities across the United States have embraced programs aimed at achieving greater sustainability. This may seem surprising, particularly since adopting aggressive environmental protection programs is regarded by some as inimical to economic development. An alternative perspective is that in the modern city sustainability can be part of an economic development strategy. What is largely missing from the literature on sustainable cities’ policies and programs is systematic analysis of the political dynamics that seem to affect support for, and adoption and implementation of, local sustainability policies. To explore the actual behavior of cities with respect to sustainability and economic development policies, two original databases on 50 large U.S. cities are used. One source of data is composed of survey responses from city councilors, agency administrators, and leaders of local advocacy groups in each of these cities. The second database contains information as to what these 50 cities actually do in terms of sustainable programs and policies. In testing a series of hypotheses, findings suggest that: a high number of programs aimed at achieving sustainability is linked to the inclusion of environmental advocacy groups; that this relationship is not compromised by business advocacy; and that inclusion of environmental groups in policymaking seems to be supported, rather than impeded, by high rates of economic growth by the cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffrey M. Berry & Kent E. Portney, 2013. "Sustainability and Interest Group Participation in City Politics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(5), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:5:p:2077-2097:d:25531
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Soyoung Kim, 2021. "Integration of Policy Decision Making for Sustainable Land Use within Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-10, September.
    3. George C Homsy, 2016. "Powering sustainability: Municipal utilities and local government policymaking," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(6), pages 1076-1094, September.
    4. Hyunjung Ji & Nicole Darnall, 2022. "How do external conditions affect the design of local governments' sustainability strategies?," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 910-929, July.
    5. Xuedong Liang & Weiwei Zhang & Lei Chen & Fumin Deng, 2016. "Sustainable Urban Development Capacity Measure—A Case Study in Jiangsu Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-13, March.
    6. Fujii, Hidemichi & Iwata, Kazuyuki & Chapman, Andrew & Kagawa, Shigemi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2018. "An analysis of urban environmental Kuznets curve of CO2 emissions: Empirical analysis of 276 global metropolitan areas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1561-1568.
    7. Xuedong Liang & Dongyang Si & Xinli Zhang, 2017. "Regional Sustainable Development Analysis Based on Information Entropy—Sichuan Province as an Example," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, October.
    8. Daniel Benjamin Bailey & Sung‐Wook Kwon & Nathaniel Wright, 2023. "Pay to protect: Examining the factors of the use of market‐based instruments for local water sustainability," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(2), pages 207-229, March.
    9. John Pierce & Nicholas Lovrich & Bonnie Johnson & Tony Reames & William Budd, 2013. "Social Capital and Longitudinal Change in Sustainability Plans and Policies: U.S. Cities from 2000 to 2010," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-22, December.

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