EXPLORING THE LINKS BETWEEN POLITICAL-STRUCTURE AND METROPOLITAN GROWTH

Considerable scholarship documents a causal link between metropolitan growth and the resultant number and arrangement of local governments i n metropolitan areas. Only scant research explores the reverse phenome na, that patterns of local government structure influence metropolitan population growth. Yet ample social science theory and case study evi dence suggest support for such a causal link. This study examines empi rically the influence of levels and changes in political structure on metropolitan population growth for 129 large US metropolitan areas bet ween 1962 and 1982. The analysis extends previous research in two ways : first, by replacing aggregate measures of political fragmentation wi th a more sophisticated set of variables that capture different aspect s of the multifaceted concept of political structure; and second, by e xamining the dynamic association between change in political structure and metropolitan growth. The results reveal mixed support for theorie s linking political structure to metropolitan growth. Of methodologica l importance is the finding that different dimensions of political str ucture interact differentially with metropolitan growth, suggesting th at traditional aggregate measures of political structure obscure more than they reveal.