2024/06/13 by Niva Golan‐Nadir, Niva Golan-Nadir, Jessica Blumberg +1 · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies #Religion and Society Interactions #Religion, Society, and Development
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/03003930.2024.2365806
crossref issued 2024/06/13 · crossref published 2024/06/13 · crossref published-online 2024/06/13 · openalex publication_date 2024/06/13 · crossref created 2024/06/13 · crossref published-print 2025/07/04 · crossref deposited 2025/07/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Under which circumstances local governments’ responsiveness to its residents’ preferences overtakes the central government’s accountability for public preferences at the national level in democracies? This study hypothesises that (1) A lacuna in public services at the national level due to institutional constraints, leading to (2) societal dissatisfaction as expressed by public opinion, as well as (3) local politicians in search for re-election, will lead local governments to account for public preferences. We further argue that local governments’ goal in accounting for public preferences is to follow the mayor’s personal ideology as well as enhance democratic values while predominantly improving their political gains. Using a mixed-method design, this study paints on the mechanism behind local initiatives to overcome policy restrictions on three religion-based policies in Israel. It demonstrates that efforts made by local governments to supply the lacking public services are an act of local responsiveness conjoint with political aspirations.