| The expansion of the casino industry into Iowa, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Indiana, and Michigan, between 1989 and 1997, represented a dramatic change in public policy and generated significant new private investment, jobs, and tax revenues for communities and these states. The benefits reaped by state and local governments were gained without the significant public subsidies that define traditional economic development efforts. Despite this fact, expansion of legalized gaming has faced repeated challenges and the industry's expansion essentially stopped in 1997. The analysis explores this puzzle.;This study takes advantage of case studies of the political economy of riverboat gambling in the state of Missouri, the St. Louis region, and the city of St. Louis. The study utilizes a qualitative case study methodology that includes opened ended, semi-structured interviews with 20 informants who were involved in the policy process of riverboat casinos in Missouri and the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. The interviews were coordinated with archival research of newspapers and officials documents.;Results of the analysis indicate that policy entrepreneurs used competing definitions of casino gambling to mobilize the public and took advantage of the legislature, the courts and the electoral process to push their policy agenda. The analysis also reveals that the institutional arrangements within local communities and established by the state of Missouri were critical factors that determined which communities succeeded in securing casino projects. These factors provided a major advantage to suburban communities and disadvantaged the city of St. Louis. |
