Policy Research

Democratic Dissolution: Radical Experimentation in State Takeovers of Local Government

Michelle Anderson

Summary

The author, Michelle Anderson, examines the municipal finance laws passed in Michigan and Rhode Island and their implications regarding democracy. The author outlines how the laws install one single state actor to oversee the finances of the fiscally distressed cities. The author argues that while these laws do take important steps to return a city to fiscal solvency in the short term, they offer little to no solutions to long term financial issues. Further, the author argues that these laws fail to produce any long term solutions, i.e. external constraints, or even government mechanism that lead to financial distress. The author also presents the concept of democratic dissolution, indicating that these laws dissolve local democratic bodies, albeit temporarily, and fall outside of the United States governing norm.

Read Now

Policy Implications

Anderson stands in sharp contrast to Gillette, who argues that only by removing local elected officials from power can issues be properly dealt with. The author also highlights many of the issues raised regarding Michigan’s EM law, which takes aggressive steps, while not also considering external economic conditions that contribute to financial distress in municipalities. The author suggests reforms, albeit not sweeping, to Emergency Manager laws in order to provide for more local control, while addressing some of the underlying causes of financial distress.