FROM CITY HALL TO COUNTY CHAMBERS: A SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF PARTISANSHIP AND POLARIZATION IN LOCAL ROLL-CALL VOTING

Abstract

This thesis investigates whether local legislative bodies—specifically city and county councils—exhibit patterns of partisanship and political polarization, despite institutional structures designed to suppress them. Using Optimal Classification (OC), a spatial modeling technique applied to over 550,000 roll-call votes across 55 councils, I analyze the extent to which party affiliation shapes legislative behavior in both partisan and formally nonpartisan settings. The findings reveal that partisanship is a notable organizing force in local governance: parties form cohesive coalitions, and ideological polarization is present across council types and jurisdictions. These results challenge long-standing assumptions that local politics operates independently from national partisan trends and contribute to a growing body of literature on the nationalization of American political life. Ultimately, this thesis highlights the need for renewed attention to local government as a meaningful site of ideological conflict and democratic accountability.