Private Government at Home: Landlord Power and Rental Residential Domination in the United States

Shai Karp

Politics & Society, 2025, vol. 53, issue 2, 167-209

Abstract: What if we think of landlords as petty tyrants? I argue that this specifically political question has been missing in analyses and diagnoses of the crisis in housing. Approaching the political conditions within landlord-tenant relations, I argue that rental housing is a sphere where people are subject to substantial unaccountable power in ways that drastically limit their autonomy, that is, domination. First, I develop a theoretical analysis through Elizabeth Anderson's concept of private government, extended by radical republican and feminist interventions. Then, drawing on interdisciplinary housing literatures, I build the case for understanding landlords’ dominative power at both structural and interpersonal levels. I look to institutional dynamics and landlord practices to unpack the details of private government in rental housing. I conclude with a critical discussion of current approaches to housing policy in terms of domination and a suggestion for an alternate strategy around the concept of countervailing power.

Keywords: housing; domination; landlord; tenant; power (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:53:y:2025:i:2:p:167-209

DOI: 10.1177/00323292241285289

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