Commonwealth Local Government Forum

Local government service delivery

Equitable and efficient service delivery is at the heart of local government’s mandate. The resources in this section focus on the management and delivery of key strategic, corporate and technical services, ranging from those for which local government has direct responsibility, to shared service provision, and services for which local government is a partner.

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Developmental Local Government in South Africa: Institutional fault lines

This paper provides a brief introduction to the recent history of, as well as the legal and policy framework for, local government in South Africa. It discusses the transformation of local government from a racially configured, illegitimate arm of the apartheid government into a system designed to produce developmentally oriented municipalities. The progress made by South African municipalities towards realising the vision of developmental local government is remarkable and unprecedented. Over the last 13 years, municipalities have embarked on the extension of infrastructure and development, whilst absorbing fundamental changes to their internal governance and management arrangements, financial management systems and intergovernmental responsibilities. The new local government system offers great potential for the realisation of a better life for all citizens, facilitated by a new generation of municipalities. However, the challenges remain huge and some of these can be attributed to institutional fault lines. These include challenges that come with large, inclusive municipalities, new executive systems and the political appointment of senior officials. The paper also identifies the downside of overzealous institutionalisation of community participation. With regard to intergovernmental relations, the paper highlights the need for a clearer definition of local government mandates and a greater recognition of the role of big cities. The current insistence on comprehensive intergovernmental alignment of policies and budgets is questioned, and suggestions are made to substitute this with an approach of selective alignment around key national priorities.

Author: Jaap de Visser Publisher: University of Technology, Sydney Publication year: January 2009


Fresh pipes with dirty water: How quality of government shapes the provision of public goods in democracies

A large strand of research holds that democracy with its broad representation and electoral accountability is beneficial for the provision of public goods. Yet, there is a large variation in how democracies perform, indicating that democratic institutions alone do not suffice for securing citizens’ wellbeing. Recent studies have stressed the equal importance of state capacity for public goods delivery. These studies, however, rarely investigate how the lack of state capacity mutes the effects of democratic institutions on public goods provision. This article addresses this gap by using a mixed methods design. First, the conditional effects of democracy and quality of government (QoG) are tested on the previously under-researched domain of the provision of clean water. The results show that democracy is associated with higher water quality only in countries where QoG is high. If QoG is low, more democracy is even related to lower water quality. The second stage of the analysis proceeds by examining how poor QoG disrupts the effects of democracy on public access to safe drinking water using interview data from a typical case of Moldova. The analysis illustrates that democracy has a number of positive effects and incentivises politicians to focus on the visible aspects of water provision, including the expansion of the water pipe network. However, low QoG hampers adoption and implementation of long-term policies necessary for securing an aspect of water provision that is harder to achieve – namely water quality. This leaves the fresh pipes with dirty water.

Author: MARINA POVITKINA KETEVAN BOLKVADZE Publisher: European Journal of Political Research Publication year: 2019


Espoo proves that artificial intelligence recognises those who need support

The unique artificial intelligence experiment by the City of Espoo and the software and service company Tieto achieved the hoped-for result: artificial intelligence can pick up service paths out of an enormous mass of service data by grouping together risk factors that trigger the need for heavy and expensive services if found in the same person. The experiment was unique, because public administration client relationship data has never been combined and analysed as extensively using artificial intelligence before.

Author: Microsoft Publisher: Microsoft Publication year: 2018


Handbook of Research on Sub-National Governance and Development

The Handbook of Research on Sub-National Governance and Development is a pivotal reference source for the latest scholarly material on the intersection between local and national politics, analysing how this relationship affects nations’ economy and administration. The new book aims to expand the knowledge-base of alternative approaches to local, regional, and national governance and development, and fills the void in current research and policy literature by exposing theoretical and practical ideas about the contribution that subnational political institutions can make to national development. 

Author: http://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/public-policy-and-governance/news/new-book-sub-national-0 Publisher: Eris D. Schoburgh, Roberta Ryan Publication year: 2017


Local governments in Southern Africa: an analytical study of decentralisation, financing, service delivery and capacities

This study commissioned joinly by CLGF, the UNCDF and the UNDP provides a detailed analysis of the state of LG in Southern Africa focusing on four key thematic areas namely: Decentralization; LG Finance; Inclusive Service Delivery; and related LG Capacity. It is aimed at supporting the region’s efforts towards decentralized governance and local development. 

Author: CLGF Publisher: CLGF Publication year: 2012


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