Re-Placing the Nation

Abstract

As the world becomes more urbanized and the significance of governance and politics within cities and regions grows, comparative urban analysis has an increasingly prominent role to play in the comparative study of politics and policy. Realizing this potential requires a conceptualization of national institutions, societies, and cultures that does justice to both the persistence of the national and the influence of local and regional agents and structures. At the same time that comparative urban political analysis must separate out local agency from national institutions, it must also take account of the role that national elements play in local agency. The de-centered analysis that results departs from traditional nation-centered comparisons as well as from those centered solely on urban actors and institutions. With the growth of transnational influences, this type of analysis offers an increasingly appropriate way to scrutinize the politics of both countries and urban regions.