Local rebels: How local governments get around federal and state laws to resist new mosques

ABSTRACT

Counties and municipalities are de jure subservient to higher-level governments. However, local governments often exercise powers reserved for state or federal governments and even engage in illegal acts. Such local noncompliance acts have been underexplored in the scholarly literature, especially regarding less visible methods. To fill this gap, this article uses cases of resistance to new mosques in Chicago’s suburbs to illustrate how municipalities use delays, denials, and revenues to get around federal and state laws to violate minority rights. The three methods improve a typology of local noncompliance and illustrate the limits and possibilities of local democracy. Local governments can ignore new federal and state laws; vote on policies and permits; delay decisions or implementation; use fiscal powers; and engage in symbolic acts.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to many people at the University of Illinois at Chicago for their valuable feedback on earlier drafts of this paper, including Mine Tafolar, Maureen Heffern Ponicki, Amy Schoenecker, Petia Kostadinova, Alexandra Filindra, Sultan Tepe, Chris Mooney, Dick Simpson, Alba Alexander, and all writing group participants at the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy. I also thank Professor Laura Reese at Michigan State University and the Young Scholars Development Program, which helped me navigate the publishing process. Finally, I thank the editor and five anonymous reviewers for providing constructive feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This article focuses on the noncompliance of policy-making institutions. However, bureaucrats fail to comply with laws as well. Michael Lipsky (2010) argues that bureaucrats are required to interpret policy on a case-by-case basis, which, in combination with large caseloads, ambiguous agency goals, and inadequate resources, often leads to significant differences between government policies and the practical application.

2. All data comes from an original analysis of all zoning relief applications requiring DuPage County Board’s approval between January 2007 and July 2020 (DuPage County, n.d.a). The date of application submission is not readily available. Instead, the county provides the publication date in a local newspaper. Appendix B includes additional timeframe data.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eliska Schnabel

Eliska Schnabel is a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research focuses on intergovernmental relations and local governments’ policies toward minorities in the U.S. and Europe.