| Abstract: | Despite their growth and functional similarity to census-listedgovernments, residential community associations (RCAs) representa little-researched feature of American federalism. This studyemploys survey data from a national sample of RCAs to examinehow these organizations relate to other parts of local governmentsystems. The findings underscore the similarity of RCAs to localgovernment with regard to service provision, intergovernmentalcontracting, and lobbying with other units. Multivariate analysisshows that where RCAs are overlapped by other local units, includingother RCAs, they engage in more government-like actions. Thearticle also seeks to stimulate further research on RCAs byreflecting on measurement issues and the federalism implicationsof the study's findings. |
