Redrawing Local Government Boundaries

Redrawing Local Government Boundaries

Author: John Meligrana

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780774809344

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Local governments today are under extreme pressure to undertake boundary reform. The global trend toward urbanization has brought with it economic, environmental, social, and regional demands that have severe implications for local governments and their territories. As a result, changing the areal jurisdiction of this most basic level of government has become a persistent and pressing challenge around the globe. This collection examines the legal and regulatory procedures involved in such municipal restructuring. Case studies from eight nations - the United States, Canada, Spain, Germany, Israel, Korea, China, and South Africa - investigate how and why local governments have been enlarged in scope and reduced in number within each country. Four key aspects are examined: the geography of the local government boundary problem, the procedures associated with boundary reform, the roles of institutions and actors in boundary reform, and the implications for urban and regional governance. Redrawing Local Government Boundaries offers a broad theoretical understanding of local government boundary reform and informs the wider scholarly discussion about institutional change, state structures, and the areal jurisdiction of local governments. The first international comparative study of local boundary reform, it will be a valuable reference for scholars and students of political science, public administration, geography, urban studies, and urban planning.


Local Government Reform

Local Government Reform

Author: Brian Dollery

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9781782543862

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'Written by an impressive array of experts, this book surveys local government reforms in six advanced democracies, federal and unitary, which share a municipal legacy: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. . . The book has an excellent bibliography and will help open up a field heretofore noted for its insularity. Recommended.' - A.J. Ward, Choice


Municipal Boundary Battles

Municipal Boundary Battles

Author: Sandeep Agrawal

Publisher: University of Alberta

Published: 2024-09-16

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1772127876

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Municipal Boundary Battles explores the motivations, land use effects, and financial implications of municipal boundary adjustments across Canada, focusing mainly on annexations and amalgamations—the most frequent means to adjust boundaries and reform local governments in this country. With a focus on mid-size cities and small towns rather than major Canadian metropolitan areas, the authors uncover hidden motivations, untangle behind-the-scenes political machinations, and document the resulting conflict. Through empirical evidence, case studies, and examples, the collection helps develop generalizations and inform best practices for municipal boundary adjustments and reform. The contributors explain how the esoteric aspects of adjustments work in more practical applications, offering political scientists, geographers, municipal officials, and planning practitioners fresh perspectives that contradict much of the prevailing understanding of boundary adjustments. Contributors: Sandeep Agrawal, Cody Gretzinger, John Heseltine, John Meligrana, Jordan Rea, Amrita Singh, Jon Taylor, Zack Taylor. Afterword by Andrew Sancton.


Municipal Territorial Reforms of the 21st Century in Europe

Municipal Territorial Reforms of the 21st Century in Europe

Author: Paweł Swianiewicz

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-01-31

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1000537579

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This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of territorial change on the municipal level across all European countries. Taking a thematic and comparative perspective, the book builds on extensive quantitative data and a large survey of academic experts in 33 European countries. Territorial organisation of the municipal level in Europe is strongly diversified and yet far from stable. Politically speaking, territorial reforms tend to be risky and difficult, as such changes affect vital interests and identities. Despite such difficulties, the last two decades have witnessed considerable changes in territorial divisions at the municipal level across a range of European countries. In this book, the authors describe and analyse these changes comprehensively, making a vital contribution to understanding the reasons and dynamics of territorial reform processes. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in local or sub-national government, institutional design and more broadly to political science, public administration/policy, human geography, sociology and economics.


City-County Consolidation and Its Alternatives: Reshaping the Local Government Landscape

City-County Consolidation and Its Alternatives: Reshaping the Local Government Landscape

Author: J.B. Carr

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-07-08

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1317474473

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City-country consolidation builds upon the Progressive tradition of favoring structural reform of local governments. This volume looks at some important issues confronting contemporary efforts to consolidate governments and develops a theoretical approach to understanding both the motivations for pursuing consolidation and the way the rules guiding the process shape the outcome. Individual chapters consider the push for city-county consolidation and the current context in which such decisions are debated, along with several alternatives to city-county consolidation. The transaction costs of city-county consolidation are compared against the costs of municipal annexation, inter-local agreements, and the use of special district governments to achieve the desired consolidation of services. The final chapters compare competing perspectives for and against consolidation and put together some of the pieces of an explanatory theory of local government consolidation.


Local Government Reforms in Countries in Transition

Local Government Reforms in Countries in Transition

Author: Frederick A. Lazin

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2008-05

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 9780739115725

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Local Government Reforms in Countries in Transition explores the impacts that the end of the Cold War and increased globalization have had on government around the world. The decentralization of national governments has led to a greater role for local governments; public administration and democrative representation are the new arena of local governments the world over. Focusing not only on countries from the former Soviet Union, but also on Israel, China, South Africa, and Egypt, the contributors to this volume present a truly global investigation of countries experiencing governmental transformation.


Law, Localism, and the Constitution

Law, Localism, and the Constitution

Author: John Stanton

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-03-24

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 0429760299

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Local government affects us all. Wherever we live, in towns, cities, villages, or the smallest of communities, there are locally elected councils tasked with representing people’s interests in the running of the local area. This involves, inter alia, providing public services, maintaining local spaces, and acting as a level of democratic governance within the broader constitutional and executive structure of the state. To fulfil these responsibilities, though, local government must be democratically legitimate; it must have at its disposal reasonable means and resources to function; and it must enjoy a healthy and balanced relationship with centralised government. This book explores and analyses the extent to which local government in the different parts of the United Kingdom is able to function effectively and democratically. It draws from local councillors’ views in analysing the state of local government under the current constitutional and governmental arrangements, discussing issues such as councils’ relationships with central government; citizen engagement; finance and public services; and the impact of recent reforms. It contrasts and compares the different approaches adopted in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, also setting out and discussing possible reforms of local government across the United Kingdom. While the focus is on the United Kingdom, the work includes a comparison with other relevant jurisdictions.


Local Government Today

Local Government Today

Author: J. A. Chandler

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780719060366

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Local Government Today provides a comprehensive analysis of the structure, finance, management, and democratic framework for local government in Britain. This new edition includes the changes made by Tony Blair's government and an evaluation in a comparative context of the value and effectiveness of the system. A new feature is a running commentary that puts the British system in comparative context and provides basic information on how local government operates in the European Union and the Unites States.


Local Government in Britain Since Reorganisation

Local Government in Britain Since Reorganisation

Author: Alan Alexander

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-10-01

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 1040130704

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Originally published in 1982, this book was the first comprehensive, critical assessment of the outcome of the controversial reorganisation of British local government outside London which took place between 1973 and 1975. The book deals with the new systems in England, Wales and Scotland, drawing upon the results of almost 100 in-depth interviews with leading members and officers from Shetland to Cornwall, from major cities to rural districts. Liaison between the tiers, the effects of corporate management, the spread of the office of chief executive, the increasing levels of partisanship and the changing face of central-local relations are examined on the basis of close observation and practical experience rather than theoretical preconceptions.


Steps to Local Government Reform

Steps to Local Government Reform

Author: Allyn O. Lockner

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2013-03-29

Total Pages: 648

ISBN-13: 1462018203

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Does the performance of your local government leave something to be desired? Maybe youre not satisfied with the services your government provides, or maybe the cost for these services is far too much. If so, take heart; you can do something about it. Steps to Local Government Reform is your step-by-step guide to undertaking reform on the local level. Public manager Allyn O. Lockner combines years of experience in the public sector to show how you, as a resident or an elected local official, can work with others to successfully implement change within your community. Lockner explains how to make numerous choices regarding the preparation for, and the study, planning, marketing, approval, implementation, and evaluation of reforms. He also shows you how to share these reform results with others. Using various criteria, comparisons, practices, analyses, and other studies aimed at local government performance, Lockner delves into the sometimes tricky world of enacting reform. He reveals how local government works and provides a map for maneuvering around bureaucratic roadblocks. In addition, he includes a comprehensive bibliography for research, an appendix of terms commonly used in the reform process, and guides to creating reform models that are likely to work. With this compendium, you can help resolve vital issues, improve your community, and live a better life.