Continuities and transformations in the studies of urban politics and governments

Cities are paramount nowadays. They host most of the world’s population in increasingly heterogeneous urban contexts. Local governments are mainly responsible for facing some of our most important social and political challenges. This Review discusses the rich analytical tradition that focused on city governments and politics following two of its underlying analytical threads—the political autonomy of city governments and the relationships between cities and democracy, in light of their durable social and political inequalities. Recent scholarship has been advancing in understanding city governments by considering them as political arenas populated by heterogeneous local institutions, dynamic processes and interconnected actors.