Who Governs? How Shifts in Political Power Shape Perceptions of Local Government Services

Abstract

What factors influence citizens’ perceptions of local government services? To answer this question, we examine citizens’ perceptions of public education in post-Katrina New Orleans. Following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans began to transform most of its traditional public schools into charters. Although studies show that test scores have improved since the mass adoption of charters post-Katrina, surveys show that most Black citizens in New Orleans do not perceive that the New Orleans schools have improved post-Katrina. A majority of White residents, however, perceive that the schools are better post-Katrina. Relying on a survey of New Orleans residents, we argue that local shifts in political power by race help explain the racial differences in perceptions of the public schools. The study’s findings suggest that perceptions of the quality of public goods are shaped by perceptions of “who governs?”

Federalism, Race, and the Politics of Turnaround: U.S. Public Opinion on Improving Low-Performing Schools and Districts

“…Opinion varies depending on the respondent’s vantage point as either a member of the community identified for reform or a member of the broader statewide context. This is consistent with other recent studies finding that perceptions of shifts in political power by race or perceived threats to the self-determination of communities of color can influence public opinion on education policy (Ewing, 2018; Morel & Nuamah, 2019).…”

“…Consider, for example, the mass teacher dismissals in the majority-Black teaching force of New Orleans that occurred in the aftermath of takeover in addition to the loss of decision-making power for the locally elected board. Studying public perceptions of the New Orleans school reforms implemented in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, Morel and Nuamah (2019) find that Black, middle-class New Orleanians (who they argue were most likely to have lost political influence as a result of reforms) expressed lower levels of approval for post-Katrina schools than either White or Black respondents as a whole. This was true despite documented improvements to student outcomes as a result of reforms (Harris & Larsen, 2018).…”

Strategic digital city: Concept, model, and research cases

“…Researchers, public managers, and government officials tend to agree with four essential public services issues: efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and responsiveness (England et al, 2016), trying to reduce bureaucracy, and many times, goods and services provisions are transferred from private to public e vice-versa (Eijk and Steen, 2016) trying to increase public transparency principally when information technology resources are used, they permit transactional interactions between citizens and city managers with participatory city planning and management (Cheng, 2020;He and Ma, 2021;Wu, 2020) promoting citizens' influences (Cheng et al, 2022;Li et al, 2019;Morel and Nuamah, 2020;Tangi et al, 2021;Witesman et al, 2023;Wu et al, 2020).…”

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“…As Morel and Nuamah (2020) highlight, who is in power matters in how people perceive the quality of public goods. They find that shifts in power between racial groups influenced how citizens evaluated schools.…”