September 2, 2024, Cambridge, Massachusetts—A new research lab examining local policy, public opinion, and elections in cities and counties across the country has launched at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University.

The Local Politics Lab is directed by Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and a faculty affiliate of the center. The lab studies some of the most important policy areas for local governments, including housing, transportation, policing, and economic development.

The lab also examines how citizens hold elected officials accountable, how representation translates the public’s interests into policy via elections, and how people’s policy opinions are formed and swayed.

De Benedictis-Kessner has published research on public opinion and created the American local government elections database, the most comprehensive publicly available source of information on local elections across the country, facilitating new research on representation and elections in local governments.

On September 3, the lab will host a launch event for TrueViews, a new resource developed by Harvard Law School’s Election Law Clinic and supported by the Local Politics Lab at the Bloomberg Center for Cities. TrueViews can address misrepresentation and polarization by providing city leaders and other policymakers with precise insights into the policy preferences of their residents. The data platform can also bolster scholarly research on local politics.