Partisanship within city limits: explaining employment policy outcomes in Danish municipalities

Two opposing views are central to the literature on local politics. An older view holds that local policy outcomes are determined primarily by cities’ structural constraints. A newer view claims that partisanship and ideology are increasingly important. In this article, we argue that the two views are complementary rather than competing paradigms. By combining them, researchers can come closer to understanding when and under what conditions partisanship matters. Our analysis is based on a study of local employment policy in 94 Danish municipalities over a 12-year period, in which we focus on job centres’ use of educational activation. We find several effects of structural constraints but no direct effect of partisanship. However, when unskilled unemployment rises within municipalities that have shifted from a right-wing to a left-wing mayor, educational activation increases. The findings imply that partisanship matters, but only under certain conditions and primarily in the short run.