Local Political Institutions and Smart Growth

Abstract

Using Florida survey data from 2002 and 2007, this article seeks to determine the characteristics of local governments that make them more or less inclined to engage in smart growth-related land-use regulations. The study draws on a range of theoretical traditions to motivate an empirical model of policy adoption, emphasizing the interaction between interest group politics and local political institutions as the primary explanatory factors. In addition, the article differentiates between types of smart growth regulations designed to promote a key smart growth principle—compact development—in terms of their redistributive consequences. The study finds some support for the notion that the adoption of smart growth practices is affected by the activism of interest groups and their interaction with local political institutions.