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Reconstructing the Local State

The Role of External Constituencies in Building Urban Tourism

Dick Simpson

University of Illinois at Chicago

The growth of tourism is fragmenting urban politics into a constellation of public/private institutions that operate largely independently from the democratic institutions of local government. In this article, the authors present preliminary evidence to show that the political interests that represent the tourism/entertainment sector are beginning to wield influence in municipal politics through campaign contributions and other political activity. They also show that those political interests have become largely independent of municipal authority through their control of institutions that undertake large-scale infrastructure projects connected to tourism/entertainment. It is suggested that mayors are able to forge alliances with these independent centers of power and, thereby, are able to bypass democratic processes.

Key Words: tourism • urban tourism • revitalization • special authorities • central cities

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