Optimal Structural Reform Arrangements in Local Government

Optimal Structural Reform Arrangements in Local Government PDF Author: Lorenzo Robotti
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Decentralization in government
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The literature on fiscal federalism highlights the various advantages of decentralized administrative functions. Moreover, this body of thought holds that the economic approach to multi-tiered government can lead to public policies that will improve the economic efficiency of existing systems of government. According to conventional economic theory on fiscal federalism, decentralizing the provision of public services by local governments can enhance social welfare by better matching citizens' preferences for local service provision. In the public choice approach, the decentralization of governmental functions is justified as long as it holds politicians and administrators accountable for their actions. Similarly the benefits of decentralization can stem from the comparison of governmental units' performances and the resulting competition between different jurisdictions. In addition, recent theoretical work from a different perspective stresses the importance of a federal structure for the performance of local economies.

Optimal Structural Reform Arrangements in Local Government

Optimal Structural Reform Arrangements in Local Government PDF Author: Lorenzo Robotti
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Decentralization in government
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The literature on fiscal federalism highlights the various advantages of decentralized administrative functions. Moreover, this body of thought holds that the economic approach to multi-tiered government can lead to public policies that will improve the economic efficiency of existing systems of government. According to conventional economic theory on fiscal federalism, decentralizing the provision of public services by local governments can enhance social welfare by better matching citizens' preferences for local service provision. In the public choice approach, the decentralization of governmental functions is justified as long as it holds politicians and administrators accountable for their actions. Similarly the benefits of decentralization can stem from the comparison of governmental units' performances and the resulting competition between different jurisdictions. In addition, recent theoretical work from a different perspective stresses the importance of a federal structure for the performance of local economies.

The Theory and Practice of Local Government Reform

The Theory and Practice of Local Government Reform PDF Author: Brian Dollery
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 9781781956687
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
'Structural reform has been one of the most important, and yet one of the most neglected, aspects of modern local government. This book represents the first attempt, since the early seventies, at providing a comprehensive account of both the theory and practice of structural reform in local government in developed countries. Using recent policy experience from seven different countries, the authors present seminal theoretical perspectives on structural reforms in local governance and the policy implications deriving from them. Written by well-known scholars of local government from around the world, this volume is a "must-read" for all academics, practitioners, students and policymakers.' - Giorgio Brosio, University of Turin, Italy

Local Government Reform Across Developed Countries

Local Government Reform Across Developed Countries PDF Author: Barbara Ermini
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Local government
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
When we look at local government practice across the advanced nations we observe a very heterogeneous picture since countries have arranged their local public sector in different ways. Over the last two decades the majority of such countries have introduced intense structural reform. This is due to the increasing number of functions, responsibilities and objectives assigned to local governments as implication of new and more modern models and principles of local governance (for example, a significant challenge is represented by the fiscal federalism and new public management). To draw out 'stylized facts' to link the diversity and differences which characterizes these local government experiences is not an easy attempt but it deserves attention. Discerning regularities among alternative patterns of local government development can help to improve the understanding of how different dimensions of local government interact with existing institutional setting in order to achieve better performance (i.e, economic efficiency, accountability, democracy, etc) at the lower level of government. Finally, this exercise can be useful to policy makers seeking informed policy options when design optimal intergovernmental relations and structural reforms.

The Challenge of Local Government Size

The Challenge of Local Government Size PDF Author: Santiago Lago-Peñas
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1782544305
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
In the efficient delivery of local public services, size matters. Many countries around the world have vertical government structures that are perceived as inefficient because of their high levels of jurisdictional fragmentation. This timely volume examines the different strategies used to address local government fragmentation and their observed results and consequences. Expert contributors in economics and political science offer a comprehensive breakdown of the issue of local jurisdiction fragmentation and provide recommendations for successful policy reform. Topics discussed include economies of scale, the costs and benefits of voluntary and forced amalgamation programs, the correlation between government size and corruption, privatization, and inter-municipal cooperation. A combination of theory and empirical evidence provides depth and makes this book an invaluable addition to the literature. Economists, public administrators and political scientists will find much of interest in this innovative volume, as will professors, students and international institutions with an interest in local government structure and reform.

The Dynamics of Institutional Change

The Dynamics of Institutional Change PDF Author: Bruno Dente
Publisher: Sage Publications (CA)
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Western democracies have retained political legitimacy since 1945 by a continuous process of adaptation to changing socio-political circumstances. Most states have changed their institutional arrangements, and reorganized their systems of local government to some degree. This book explains local government change within the wider context of institutional change. It links theories of legitimacy and institutional change to the extensive empirical and historical literature on local government reorganization. It also differentiates between institutional change and reform. Structural or historical variables are shown to play a major role in explaining why and how both reform and change take place. In particular, the rise and decline of the welfare state - and the political and policy changes associated with this - is one of the most important points of departure in the analysis. The ideas shared by the policy community explain the roles played by actors involved in shaping local government change and reform. This provides the link between the macro (structural) dimension and empirical observation.

Structural Reform in Local Government

Structural Reform in Local Government PDF Author: Local Government Association of New South Wales
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 24

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Book Description


Local Government Structural Reform in Anglosphere and OECD Countries

Local Government Structural Reform in Anglosphere and OECD Countries PDF Author: Ian Tiley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Annexation (Municipal government)
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Structural reform has transformed the landscape of Australian local government activity. The meaning and nature of structural reform in the context of local government amalgamation is investigated in this paper. Examples of overseas experience of local government amalgamation as a preferred structural reform mechanism used by governments to reduce council numbers are considered. Local government reform experience in the Anglosphere nations of the United Kingdom, United States of America (USA), Canada and New Zealand and OECD countries Germany, France, Italy and Spain is examined. Amalgamation of local government units occurred in most of these countries for largely the same reason; to improve the operational efficiency of local government. Despite the very large numbers of local government units in some jurisdictions, strong community attachment to locality and the virtues of localism had meant that, in recent decades, higher spheres of government had not been prepared to attempt to impose local government mergers.

Divided we Fall: An Insider’s Perspective on Local Government Amalgamations

Divided we Fall: An Insider’s Perspective on Local Government Amalgamations PDF Author: Dr Ian Tiley
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1479738972
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
Recent Australian local government structural reform has manifested as council amalgamations and predominantly as imposed merger processes. This book examines council amalgamations across Australia over the past two decades and uncovers the case of council amalgamation in the NSW Clarence Valley Council (CVC) since 2004. The case of forced amalgamation of four general-purpose and two county councils could have been a recipe for chaos; instead this book describes the gains and the challenges. Writing from deep seated knowledge of local government this book details the net positive economic outcomes and financial benefits against measurable indicators and describes the impacts on local democracy. Based on detailed research, this long term local government ‘insider’ perspective will be of value to all those interested in driving change through local government reform.

Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century

Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century PDF Author: Paul Manna
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0815723954
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
A Brookings Institution Press with the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Center for American Progress publication America's fragmented, decentralized, politicized, and bureaucratic system of education governance is a major impediment to school reform. In this important new book, a number of leading education scholars, analysts, and practitioners show that understanding the impact of specific policy changes in areas such as standards, testing, teachers, or school choice requires careful analysis of the broader governing arrangements that influence their content, implementation, and impact. Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century comprehensively assesses the strengths and weaknesses of what remains of the old in education governance, scrutinizes how traditional governance forms are changing, and suggests how governing arrangements might be further altered to produce better educational outcomes for children. Paul Manna, Patrick McGuinn, and their colleagues provide the analysis and alternatives that will inform attempts to adapt nineteenth and twentieth century governance structures to the new demands and opportunities of today. Contents: Education Governance in America: Who Leads When Everyone Is in Charge?, Patrick McGuinn and Paul Manna The Failures of U.S. Education Governance Today, Chester E. Finn Jr. and Michael J. Petrilli How Current Education Governance Distorts Financial Decisionmaking, Marguerite Roza Governance Challenges to Innovators within the System, Michelle R. Davis Governance Challenges to Innovators outside the System, Steven F. Wilson Rethinking District Governance, Frederick M. Hess and Olivia M. Meeks Interstate Governance of Standards and Testing, Kathryn A. McDermott Education Governance in Performance-Based Federalism, Kenneth K. Wong The Rise of Education Executives in the White House, State House, and Mayor’s Office, Jeffrey R. Henig English Perspectives on Education Governance and Delivery, Michael Barber Education Governance in Canada and the United States, Sandra Vergari Education Governance in Comparative Perspective, Michael Mintrom and Richard Walley Governance Lessons from the Health Care and Environment Sectors, Barry G. Rabe Toward a Coherent and Fair Funding System, Cynthia G. Brown Picturing a Different Governance Structure for Public Education, Paul T. Hill From Theory to Results in Governance Reform, Kenneth J. Meier The Tall Task of Education Governance Reform, Paul Manna and Patrick McGuinn

Structural Reform of British Local Government

Structural Reform of British Local Government PDF Author: Michael Chisholm
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719057717
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
"The book reviews the reasons for the reforms, the processes and outcomes in the three countries, and the nature of the evidence that was available for the advantages and disadvantages of reorganisation. Two chapters compare the prior assessments of the financial costs and benefits with the actuality, and the final chapter discusses some important lessons for national governance."--Jacket.