30th edition of the CJLG published 

CLGF is delighted to announce the publication of the latest edition of the Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance. As members will know the journal is designed to link practitioners with academic and peer reviewed research – normally comparative in nature – as well as policy and practice notes, and book reviews.

We rely on a dedicated team of colleagues and partners to bring the journal to life, together with a big network of academics, researchers and practitioners who have been publishing with us since the Journal started in 2010.

Local Government being asked to do more with less 

This edition is being published as local government across the Commonwealth is being asked to do more: with greater integrity, responsiveness, and effectiveness, often amid constrained resources and contested authority. The papers in Edition 30 focus on decentralisation, autonomy and accountability in Ghana and Nigeria; ethics and accountability in Ghana; food security in Bangladesh; municipal health devolution in South Africa; and democratic, local inclusion in indigenous communities in New Zealand and Canada. The edition also includes a review of James Warona Brown Sekhomba’s book on social protection in Botswana.

Welcoming a new Editor 

The Journal is in a phase of transition. We are delighted to formally welcome Dr Bhaskar Chakrabarti as the new Editor of the Journal. Bhaskar is based at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, Kolkata. He is also an active member of the Board of CLGF. We will miss the incredible contribution that Graham Sansom has made to the Journal, both as its inaugural editor, and more recently when he stepped in as interim editor. It was Graham’s vision of the importance of bringing research, policy and practice together that remains at the heart of the Journal and its continued relevance.

Saying goodbye to a member of the Journal team 

Behind the scenes we will also miss Diane Bowden who is retiring. We owe her a huge debt of gratitude, as her editorial support, administration and general drive has been a big part of the Journal’s success to date, and she has been an important link with the University of Technology, Sydney’s E-Press, which publishes the Journal.

We hope that you find the papers in the Journal both interesting and useful. It is an open-source publication, and we encourage members to share the link to the Journal widely across your colleagues and networks. As local governments work to do more with less, and in increasingly challenging contexts, evidence-based policy making is essential, and the Commonwealth offers a rich source of knowledge and experience.

Issue 30 of the Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance