The Federalism of Fracking: How the Locus of Policy-Making Authority Affects Civic Engagement

Gwen Arnold and Robert Holahan

Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 2014, vol. 44, issue 2, 344-368

Abstract: In 1961, V. Ostrom, Tiebout, and Warren (OTW) argued that small political jurisdictions foster more civic engagement than large jurisdictions. Empirical tests of this claim have produced mixed results. Drawing on E. Ostrom’s theorizing, we contend that these mixed findings may result from scholars ignoring differences in the policy-making capacity of seemingly comparable jurisdictions. We nuance OTW’s hypothesis by examining how the size of the jurisdiction with authority to shape policy affects civic engagement surrounding hydraulic fracturing in New York and Pennsylvania. Empirical analysis supports the nuanced OTW hypothesis: Citizens in New York, where meaningful fracking policy-making authority rests with small local jurisdictions, evidence more civic engagement than citizens in Pennsylvania, where the locus for fracking policy-making authority is a large, commonwealth-wide jurisdiction.

Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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