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Local
Government Internal Structure, External Constraints and the Median Voter
Hypothesis
URAG Working Paper #04-02
Local Government Internal Structure, External Constraints and the Median Voter Hypothesis (pdf)
by Geoffrey K. Turnbull and Gyusuck Geon, July 2004
Keywords: Home rule, Dillon's Rule, median voter hypothesis
This paper examines how internal structure and external constraints affect
local government ability to satisfy voters' demands. Using the revealed
preference method, the paper tests counties in 38 states, identifying
which fail to satisfy the pure democracy outcome of the median voter hypothesis
(MVH). Applying probit analysis to identify factors promoting MVH failure,
it finds that internal government structure does not matter. Restricting
home rule, however, increases the likelihood of satisfying the MVH equilibrium,
a result consistent with the Leviathan model. The differences found for
urban and rural governments reinforce this conclusion.
Comments and questions regarding this paper may be directed to Geoffrey Turnbull at gturnbull@gsu.edu.