Local Government Studies

AI and Local Government Transformation: Institutional Capacity, Organizational Arrangements, and Democratic Practices

Background and Scope

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in local government through chatbots, predictive analytics, automated decision-support systems, generative AI, and other algorithmic tools used in service delivery, regulation, citizen engagement, policy analysis, and administration. While scholarship on AI in government continues to expand, most studies focus on public administration broadly or on national-level initiatives. Comparatively little attention has been given to local governments, despite their distinctive institutional, organizational, and resource conditions.

Existing research has largely examined the adoption and implementation of AI in municipalities. Less is known about how AI becomes embedded in everyday administrative practice, how local governments evaluate and govern these systems, and how AI reshapes expertise, discretion, authority, and accountability. To address these gaps, this special issue asks: How does AI become institutionalized in local government, and how does this process reshape institutional capacity, organizational arrangements, and democratic practices?

Key Themes of the Special Issue

We invite contributions that address one or more of the following interconnected themes. 

1.     Institutional Capacity

AI institutionalization requires capabilities that extend beyond initial adoption. We invite studies examining how local governments build and sustain infrastructure, expertise, learning systems, governance arrangements, and collaborative capacity to support AI over time. Relevant questions may include: 

• What enduring capabilities allow local governments to institutionalize AI?
• How does AI integration affect the capacity of local governments to carry out their main responsibilities?
• What enables local governments to learn from pilots, failures, and unintended outcomes?
• How do local governments address gaps in technical and professional expertise under resource constraints?

2.     Organizational Arrangements

AI is introduced and used through existing organizational structures, while also reshaping them. This theme explores how AI influences administrative routines, professional roles, workflows, and the distribution of authority, expertise, discretion, and responsibility among public officials and external actors. Under this theme, the special issue aims to address questions including, but not limited to:

• How does AI change administrative routines, workflows, and professional roles?
• How are authority, expertise, discretion, and responsibility reorganized around AI?
• Who is responsible when decisions are jointly produced by officials and AI systems?

3.     Democratic Practices

Research on municipal AI strategies shows that participation and deliberation are often recognized in policy documents, but there is limited evidence about how these principles are put into practice. The special issue invites studies that examine citizens as participants, rights holders, service users, and members of local democratic communities to understand how their feedback informs AI integration and institutional changes. Research under this theme may consider the following questions:

• How are local government uses of AI authorized, explained, scrutinized, and revised?
• How does AI integration change interactions between local governments and citizens?
• How do local governments involve residents in developing AI guidelines and governance frameworks?
• How are public feedback and community concerns regarding AI-assisted public services and decision-making incorporated into the institutionalization of AI systems?