Partisanship in Local Politics

Guest: Adam Dynes, PhD, Professor of Political Science, BYU What’s the big issue in your city right now? It’s probably public safety or infrastructure or economic development. Not matter the size of the city, police, potholes and places to work tend to absorb the attention of local officials. And because cities share so many concerns in common, there’s a lot of opportunity to share solutions, too. But just how that works – how it is that a proposal to limit smoking in public places, for example, spreads from one city to another to another – is worth considering. If we can figure out how city officials come up with their policy ideas and where they look for inspiration, maybe we can figure out how to encourage more innovation in tackling challenges communities have in common.