This course examines the relationships between citizens and the state at the grassroots – in neighborhoods, villages, towns, cities, and municipalities – exploring whether and how citizens engage the state, and the responsive of the state to local needs and demands. With its focus on the local level, the course highlights a critical, but often overlooked, political arena. Drawing on cases from around the world, from both advanced industrial and developing countries, the course explores issues of governance, participation, representation, and distribution, asking: who speaks up, who speaks for (or through) whom, and who gets what across and within localities?