Are U.S. Cities Losing Power and Authority? Perceptions of Local Government Actors

Have the power and discretionary authority enjoyed by U.S. local governments changed over the past decade? The answer to the question is sought not through creating a metric that gauges the legal or structural power possessed by cities and counties but rather by surveying well-placed actors who are in a position to know. Their assessments, for the most part, suggest that local jurisdictions, especially cities, have experienced an erosion of authority at the hands of their state governments.