A key concept in the study of local politics, a policy is:

Revenue sharing:

Only a small minority of cities allow for initiative elections.

When comparing council-manager institutional designs and mayor-council ones:

Bond referendums allow the public to vote on a policy before it is implemented, and they are uncommon outside of California.

If good candidates are dissuaded from running because they cannot compete financially, electoral competition and, therefore, government accountability are threatened.

Home rule means:

Though there are many reasons to charter a new city government, greater citizen control over zoning is never one of them.

Single-member districts are also known as a:

What do critics cite as a bad effect that incumbency advantages can have on democracy?