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Since 2009 the Tea Party has disrupted and deeply influenced American politics. The force of the movement has been felt not only in the three election cycles since then, but also in the development of public policy. One area where Tea Party influence has been said to be significant is in the area of environmental sustainability. As local governments have moved toward adopting environmental measures aimed at promoting sustainability, there have been some cases where local Tea Parties have emerged as aggressive and strident opponents of related policy changes. How widespread this behavior has been is unclear. In this paper we look broadly at the Tea Party movement across the country and systematically assess its influence in urban America. Based on evidence we've gathered for a number of different databases, we find that the Tea Party has not had a measurable impact on city policymaking in the area of sustainability. Moreover, we find that local Tea Party chapters generally have very limited organizational capacity to engage in advocacy. Across 50 large American cities, our findings indicate that the typical Tea Party chapter is at best a modest presence in local politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many cities across the United States have embraced programs aimed at sustainability. This may seem surprising as adopting aggressive environmental protection programs are 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. To explore the actual behavior of cities we draw on two original databases on 50 large American cities. 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, we find that: a high number of programs aimed at promoting 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 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An intriguing puzzle concerning urban environments is whether or not cities are characterized by a Kuznets Curve. Based on theorizing about the economic development of countries, our conjecture is this: can we assume that after cities reach a level of economic prosperity that they place greater emphasis on quality of life issues and, conversely, less emphasis on economic development? If so, wealthier cities should prioritize sustainability efforts-those programs and policies designed to mitigate environmental degradation. We examine this proposition here but move beyond a simple relationship between city income and effort toward environmental protection. Rather, we hypothesize that any such relationship is conditioned by a city's level of environmental advocacy. The data utilized in this analysis are derived from two large-scale databases. One is a comprehensive inventory of sustainability programs and policies in fifty large American cities. The other is a set of surveys in those same 50 cities. Our multivariate model supports our hypothesis. Controlling for income growth, a city's commitment to sustainability is strongly linked to environmentalists' presence in the policymaking process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In years past interest group theory was deeply influenced by research on groups in cities, but more recent scholarship on interest groups has focused on national politics. To what degree do contemporary urban interest group systems fit the models of national policymaking? In trying to answer this question we draw on a set of interviews with city councilors, administrators, and interest group representatives in eight cities in eastern Massachusetts. Three significant problems are addressed. First, what is the rate of participation by different interest group sectors, and how does this constellation of groups at the local level compare with that in Washington? We found an abundance of citizen groups and neighborhood associations, and a much smaller proportion of business organizations in comparison to Washington. Second, what is the relationship between local groups and urban governments? The data revealed a substantial amount of collaboration, especially between nonprofits and the more urban of the cities. The third and final part of the analysis examines development politics in the city of Boston. A clear bias toward facilitating large development project exists, but it is difficult to detect any unified elite dominating city politics. The evidence gathered suggests that the structure of city politics and the needs of bureaucracies necessitates and facilitates a high level of participation by diverse interest group populations. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]