Legislating Growth Management: Power, Politics, and Planning

Abstract

State-level growth management legislation involves a complex constellation of political support and opposition. This article uses narrative policy analysis techniques to examine the politics behind Iowa's late-1990s effort at such legislation, identifying a model of factors participants use in determining political support for a bill. While much of the debate in Iowa focused explicitly on the technical issues, at heart the issue was the redistribution of power the proposed policy entailed, along with its fit to a largely rural state culture. Passing growth management legislation will require greater attention by planners to both of these topics.