The Routledge Handbook of International Local Government conducts a rigorous, innovative and distinctive analysis of local government within a comparative, international context. Examining the subject matter with unrivalled breadth and depth, this handbook shows how different cultures and countries develop different institutions, structures and processes over time, yet that all have some features in common – the most obvious of which is the recognition that some decisions are better made, some services better delivered, and some engagement with the state better organised if there is structured organisational expression of the importance of the local dimension of all these factors. Thematically organised, it includes contributions from international experts with reference to the wider context in terms of geographies, local government modes, recent developments and possible further lines of research. It has a wide academic appeal internationally and will steer a course between the two dimensions of mono-jurisdictional studies and ‘cataloguing’ forms of comparison.
 

Table of Contents 1. Local Governments - A Global Presence [Richard Kerley, Joyce Liddle, Pam Dunning] Part I: Elected Roles and Governance 2. Local Electoral Systems [Michael Cole] 3. Local Political Leadership: The Voters or Councillors – Who Chooses Who Governs? [Colin Copus] 4. Traditional Leaders and Local Government in Pacific Island Countries [Graham Hassall and Paul Mae] 5. The Role of the Councillor [Neil McGarvey and Fraser Stewart] 6. The Relationship between Politics and Administration: From Dichotomy to Local Governance Arenas [Alessandro Sancino, Marco Meneguzzo, Alessandro Braga, and Paolo Esposito] 7. Institutionalized Differences in Economic Development Perspectives: A Comparison of City Managers, Mayors and Council Members in Texas [James Vanderleeuw and Melanie Smith] Part II: Local Governments in Different Jurisdictions 8. The Political Salience of Local Government in a Small State [Ann Marie Bissessar] 9. Local Government in the Pacific Islands [Graham Hassall, Matthew Kensen, Rikiaua Takeke, Karibaiti Taoba, and Feue Tipu] 10. Local Government in Latin America – The Struggle to Overcome Social Exclusion [Andrew Nickson] 11. A Turbulent Past, A Turbulent Future? Reform and Disruption in the Local Government of New Zealand [Michael Reid and Michael Macaulay] 12. Constitutional and Legislative Changes in Caribbean Local Government [Eris Schoburgh] Part III: Range of Local Government Services 13. Local Government Service Roles in the U.S.A: Consistency and Change [J. Edwin Benton] 14. Public Entrepreneurship: Is Local Government Necessary to Deliver Economic Development? [Lorraine Johnston and John Fenwick] 15. The Wide Range of Local Government Public Services [Elisabetta Mafrolla] 16. Public Service Delivery in Today’s Georgia [Giorgi Vashakidze] 17. The Provision of Public and Personal Social Services in European Countries: Between Marketization and The Return of the Public/Municipal and Third Sector [Hellmut Wollmann] Part IV: Citizen Engagement 18. Practices and Challenges of Citizen Participation in Local Government: Case Studies of Midsized Cities in Russia and the United States [Sofia Prysmakova-Rivera, Elena Gladun, Thomas Bryer, Andrey Larionov, Dmitry Teplyakov, Olga Teplyakova and Natalia Nosova] 19. The Urban Governance of Austerity in Europe [Adrian Bua, Jonathan Davies, Ismael Blanco, Ioannis Chorianopoulos, Mercè Cortina-Oriol, Andrés Feandeiro, Niamh Gaynor, Steven Griggs, S. David Howarth, and Yuni Salazar] 20. Redressing the Trust Deficit: Local Governments and Citizen Engagement [Jonathan Carr West] 21. Does Mode of Public Outreach Matter? [Sheldon Gen and Erika Luger] 22. Improving Social Development in Brazil through an Open Budget Perspective: Does Collaborative Stakeholder Engagement Matter? [Ricardo Gomes and Welles Abreu] 23. Civic Engagement in Local Politics in Central Europe [Oto Potluka, Judit Kalman, Ida Musialkowska, and Piotr Idczak] Part V: Multi-Level Governance 24. Australia: Challenging Institutional Constraints [Chris Aulich] 25. Local Government Outside Local Boundaries: Rescaling Municipalities, Redesigning Provinces and Local-Level Europeanization [Koenradd De Ceuninck, Tony Valcke and Tom Verhelst] 26. Local Government in the European Union’s Multilevel Polity [Marius Guderjan] 27. Second Thoughts on Second-Order? Towards a Second-Tier Model of Local Government Elections and Voting [Ulrik Kjær and Kristof Steyvers] 28. The Architecture of the Local Political Community: France; Italy; Portugal and Spain [Jaume Magre and Esther Pano] Part VI: Getting and Spending 29. Local Government Anti-Corruption Initiatives in Post-Soviet Georgia and Ukraine: Another Tale of Two Cities [Terry Anderson] 30. Enhancing VFM Audit in Local Government: The Best Value Initiative [Michela Arnaboldi and Irvine Lapsley] 31. Financing and Taxing for Local Government [Kenneth Gibb and Linda Christie] 32. Adapting to the Fiscal Environment: Local Governments, Revenue and Taxation Powers [Mark Sandford] 33. Financing Local Government in the Twenty-First Century: Local Government Revenues in European Member States, 2000 – 2014 [Gerard Turley and Stephen McNena]

Advancing economic development in the poorest countries is a hallmark of building Global Britain. It is an essential part of how Britain is helping make globalisation work for all and furthering our national interests by playing a leading role on the international stage. Life-changing progress comes from growth that transforms economies; that creates productive jobs and private sector investment; and that spreads benefits and opportunities right across society. This is essential to eradicate extreme poverty, deliver the Global Goals that the world adopted in 2015 and end reliance on aid.

How can local development programmes (LDPs) build the capacity of local governments and local organisations in order to improve their performance? This guide from the United Nations Capital Development Fund presents lessons and guidelines for local government capacity-building in development programmes. It addresses LDP strategy, financing strategy, local public investment expenditure management, and accountability, communications and information. This summary focuses on chapter five of the guide, ‘Capacity Building’. The aim of capacity-building within LDPs is to improve the performance of local organisations by addressing human resource, material or logistical, institutional and other constraints. Different measures are required to address different types of constraints, and any comprehensive capacity-building strategy should be a composite of these. Within such a framework, training and institutional development then become measures or strategies for achieving the wider goal of capacity-building for improved performance. Strengthening human resources at the local level is one of the most important activities undertaken by LDPs and requires significant effort, time and resources. Other measures include addressing material or logistical capacity at the local level, through either direct or demand-driven provision. One of the challenges for human resource capacity-building at the local level is addressing human resource or personnel gaps. Options for filling personnel gaps include providing incentives for staff-hiring, innovations allowing the recruitment of extra personnel for key tasks and cooperation between local governments. A second challenge for human resource capacity-building at the local level is addressing skill deficits and other training requirements. Lessons and guidelines for local human resource development (HRD) include the following: 1) HRD plans should include an assessment of functions and capacities, analysis of where capacity-building efforts need to be focused and identification of resources. They should include an implementation plan and methodology for self-evaluation. 2) The core of HRD is usually training, often backed up with mentoring and on-the-job support. Training needs will vary from project to project. They should be clearly identified by the LDP capacity-building strategy. 3) Training in basic topics, including administration, management, communications and gender issues, can be carried out by a variety of specialist agencies. LDPs can also provide training through a training-of-trainers process. 4) Study tours to other projects, other local governments and even other countries can be highly instructive. However, several issues need to be kept in mind, including that study tours are not in themselves vehicles for acquiring new skills. 5) Demand-driven training can complement direct provision by LDPs. Demand-driven capacity-building strategy should establish mechanisms that articulate demand deriving from real needs and ensure that supply responds effectively and efficiently. General lessons learned from LDPs with regard to capacity-building include the following: a) Any capacity-building programme needs to be designed around an analysis of the different types of constraints affecting the performance of local government. b) LDPs differ from projects where systems are set up to be managed by project teams rather than by local governments. LDP procedures and systems need to be tailored to realistic views of capacities at the local level and the politics of local government. c) There is a need to be clear about how much capacity-building should be done and what kinds of capacity require strengthening. d) There is a tendency to see capacity-building as a prerequisite for decentralisation. LDP experience, however, suggests that devolving responsibilities is perhaps a prerequisite to the development of local capacities.

The Urban Sustainability Support Alliance (USSA) was a large and multi-faceted NSW wide programme, which was delivered between late 2007 and late 2011, to support NSW Councils in integrating environmental sustainability into their policies, procedures, operations and programs. To support cultural change in 152 government instrumentalities, of different sizes, shapes and demographics, required innovation, connection and credibility. A diverse range of support and development mechanisms was required. The USSA coined the tag line: Supporting Councils on their journey towards sustainability, and was evaluated in 2011. This paper charts the journey and reports on that evaluation. It describes the USSA program: provides judgments about the value of the programme against its intended outcomes; and identifies formative findings for the future so that the necessary support might continue. The USSA was a highly successful program, with more than 85% of respondents from almost 80% of Councils in NSW indicating that the USSA had raised the profile of sustainability ‘a lot’/’a reasonable amount/some’. Of these, 48% indicated that the effect had been substantial. The evaluation report concluded that the USSA has provided ‘a lot, but not yet enough’ support to NSW Councils on the journey towards sustainability, and that there is still more to do