Bottom-up activism: A local political strategy for higher policy change

Abstract

In recent decades, local governments in the United States have repeatedly turned to activism to protest higher government policies, or to generate policy movement in an expanding array of domestic and foreign policy areas. There has been little scholarly effort, however, to categorize the behaviors of local activism or to understand why it occurs. This conceptual article introduces local activism as a political strategy comprised of several progressively aggressive behaviors. A typology for these activist behaviors is suggested and the potential goals and motivations of local activists explored, along with recent changes to the intergovernmental environment that may have provided both cause and political incentive for local activism. © 2012 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CSFAssociates: Publius, Inc. All rights reserved.