Academic Avenues

“This article posits that, for various reasons, the centralization of the state and local government administrations has been a dominant characteristic of the Malawi political system. This centralization may be explained by historically specific factors. It has its roots in the colonial system of government, which was designed for political control (and economic exploitation), in order to maintain the British imperial system.

The centralization was subsequently refined and deepened by the one-party regime that existed between 1966 and 1994. This was ostensibly for the purpose of maintaining national unity and cohesion, and to promote rapid economic development. The centralization is being perpetuated by the leadership of the recently established multi-party system, due to the lack of commitment in furthering the cause of democracy.

Malawi, formerly known as the Nyasaland Protectorate, was colonized by Britain for 73 years. During that time, the foundations of the local government system were laid. The traditional argument for local government stresses that it is desirable because of its democratic nature and potential for efficiency in the provision of local social services. Influenced by the pluralist view of society, the argument states that local government enhances the spread of power through local political participation and self-government. Thus it checks the undesirable concentration of power and authority at central government headquarters.

It is believed that local government allows for responsive and appropriate provision of public services to local areas, so avoiding the impersonality, remoteness and delays of central government delivery. The perceived accessibility of local government to the community is also believed to enhance accountability, as well as the capacity for building up public loyalty to the nation. In terms of administrative efficiency, the argument emphasizes the cost and time savings that come with the streamlining of long bureaucratic procedures, by adopting localized forms of service provision (King and Pierre, 1990: 16–19; Stoker, 1991: 234–5). Local government is, therefore, good for democracy and for efficient state administration.”

Published in International Review of Administrative Sciences | J. Kaunda | 1999, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/State-Centralization-and-the-Decline-of-Local-in-Kaunda/259066165dbc8228d497a11c7e410d52f62d9a59, https://consensus.app/details/government-therefore-democracy-state-administration-kaunda/069b58c628985bb89b95fec06eab2be3/

“This book seeks to trace the main dimensions of recent conflicts between central departments of governments and local authorities and to reveal something of their significance. It does so by focusing on the role of law in shaping the central-local government relations which is neglected in many contemporary studies and yet is of vital importance in identifying the character of that relationship. Precisely why they should be so is not self-evident.

The main objective of this introduction therefore is to highlight the importance of this dimension to the study of central-local relations and then to explain the way in which the key themes of the study are to be addressed. One highly significant aspect of the study is the identification of a process of juridfication which is only gradually becoming clear. This has not only been a major undertaking, it has also been a highly complex, ambiguous, confusing, and frustrating activity. This has caused problems for government and for the judiciary and not surprisingly there have been expressions of discomfort on all sides. This book helps to explain where the process may have gone wrong and why ultimately it may be an objective which cannot be realised.

Ultimately what the book seeks to demonstrate is that the issues raised by the government of central-local relations transcend the institution of local government and are directly linked to our system of parliamentary democracy. Furthermore the author argues that the system of central-local government relations has evolved in such a way that it reveals a great deal about our tradition of public law. An examination of these issues through an explication of the themes of legality and locality therefore requires the reader to address basic questions about the nature of contemporary British government.”

M. Loughlin | 1996, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Legality-and-Locality%3A-The-Role-of-Law-in-Relations-Loughlin/720a17110893db1ae6b0202d2275efd46f072459, https://consensus.app/details/ultimately-book-seeks-demonstrate-issues-raised-loughlin/2eb0cc8bcbe5564ea58bff54b9e42a18/

“What are the sources of citizen satisfaction with local government? Our answers to this question remain fragmentary due to limits in our tools of investigation which have not been well suited for disentangling individual- and jurisdictional-level determinants of citizens’ evaluations and distinguishing these from city-specific effects. We employ a comparison group design to jointly assess three theoretical accounts of the source of satisfaction.

The results point to a very understandable account of satisfaction with local government. On the individual’s side of the relationship, we find an important role for local government efficacy and attachment to the local community. And on the government’s, our model points to what officials actually do for citizens: provision of some level and quality of services.”

Published in The Journal of Politics | R. H. DeHoog | 1990, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Citizen-Satisfaction-with-Local-Governance%3A-A-Test-DeHoog-Lowery/60d971ba152c67fb26bbf37c39f1b6b9124b1fda, https://consensus.app/details/results-point-account-satisfaction-government-dehoog/827bc32c7a8357a8a60b82a441317cea/

“The traditional relationship between politics and policy making has been challenged in recent years, highlighting how policy itself can generate political action. This raises questions about how conflict produced or mediated through the policy process is managed, particularly within what has been described as a ‘postpolitical settlement’ where fundamental politicoideological issues are liable to be ‘displaced’ rather than opened up for debate.

I argue that such displacement generates its own distinctive politicomanagerial logic. Drawing on the discourses and practices of planning reform in England, I suggest that ongoing systemic reform might be understood as a product of a politics of displacement that seeks to cover over the causes of the antagonism generated by the logic of urban development. Tracing this logic through the policy process, I further suggest that displacement has a range of underexamined effects on local democracy and the legitimacy of local government.”

Published in Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy | A. Inch | 2012, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Creating-%E2%80%98a-Generation-of-NIMBYs%E2%80%99-Interpreting-the-Inch/556463c9116908d4d0a316c0bed9471fa6c8a5ad, https://consensus.app/details/tracing-policy-process-suggest-displacement-range-inch/7dc1e97f94f85e18bc6fb3f8e5cfcd89/

“Results of the comparative study presented in this paper suggests that local government organization influences land-use planning, and local development strategies and disparities. Local government reforms can, therefore, serve to modify spatial patterns of development and disparities.”

Based on a review of studies made in the developed and the developing world, the author provides a comparative perspective on these influences. Five major dimensions of local government organization—territorial, functional, political autonomy, fiscal, and electoral—are used to define four extreme models of local government. The American self-government model leads to substantial inequalities and to considerable sprawl.

The Western welfare-state model alleviates these problems somewhat, but at a cost to central government. Its positive impact is also dependent on norms of administration at the central level, whereas reduced competition over economic development has its negative sides. Developing-world-type centralism has no real advantages in terms of development or disparities. The developing-world decentralized model can be regarded as a transitional phase towards either the self-government or the welfare-state models. Its implementation has been partial; hence its impact has, so far, been rather small.

Published in Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy | E. Razin | 2000, https://consensus.app/details/results-study-presented-paper-suggests-government-razin/304a0930912756388c0773ed19569e14/, https://consensus.app/details/results-study-presented-paper-suggests-government-razin/304a0930912756388c0773ed19569e14/

“…the creation of a constitutional framework for local government must be seen as the first step in the development of autonomous local government, and that the main task now facing all three tiers of South Africa’s government is the development of sufficient financial and human resources to ensure improvements in the standards of living of poor South Africans.”

On 1 November 1995 the final piece in South Africa’s democratic jigsaw was slotted into place when elections were held to create 686 new local authorities throughout the country. The new councils are confronted with a daunting task, as they have been championed by the national Government of National Unity (GNU) as the main delivery mechanism for social and economic redistribution as well as the vehicle for the achievement of the aims and objectives of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).

This article argues that the legislative framework developed for local government has an urban bias that has operated to the detriment of a manageable solution to the problems of rural local government in South Africa. The article examines the new structures of local democracy and argues that the need to secure local representation may have been achieved at the expense of functional efficiency. The lack of human and financial resources in some of the less developed councils makes service delivery problematic. If service delivery is not improved it could undermine the new local democracy as peoples’ expectations remain unfulfilled.

The article also examines the efforts to accommodate the political and economic demands of South Africa’s traditional societies and the commercial farmers. The article argues that the efforts to incorporate these powerful elements into the new dispensation have largely failed, creating a potential for future disruption.

Published in Public Administration and Development | Christopher Pycroft | 1996, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Local-government-in-the-new-South-Africa-Pycroft/961b4f02ecbb90d9025f9608907ff69552b60a1d, https://consensus.app/details/this-article-argues-framework-developed-government-bias-pycroft/9068b9a56d705f9383ba3859a6751f40/

“The results of the analysis show that increasing absolute size and decreasing relative size of settlement unit have negative effects on the number of candidates in units. Also the institutionally disadvantaged units (defined by the location of the municipal office within the settlement unit) produce smaller number of candidates.

The results show the importance of structural factors on the traditionally neglected type of political participation (candidacy) within this field. This allows the formulation of recommendations for local government reforms, not only in the Czech Republic, but also for amalgamated municipal systems.”

Following current debates on the study of the quality of local government, this article focuses on the effects of settlement unit size and organizational type on candidacy in local elections within the Czech Republic. Municipal size and institutional design are traditionally seen as important factors influencing political participation at the local level. However, citizens in differently defined settlement units included in a municipality are disadvantaged differently by these factors and thus, de-motivated to participate in politics.

The unit of analysis within the article is a settlement unit within a municipality. The article uses Poisson regression to estimate the effect of the absolute and relative size of the settlement unit and different organizational types of settlement unit on the relative number of candidates in the unit. The analysis is based on data from 6,124 Czech municipalities over three sets of elections.

Published in Political Geography | Petr Voda | 2017, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Local-and-more-local%3A-Impact-of-size-and-type-of-on-Voda-Sva%C4%8Dinov%C3%A1/eddd1820a3ef85377a8a837bccc42bf7793a0279, https://consensus.app/details/this-allows-formulation-recommendations-government-voda/bf5bcba8643b589db3af29750349a022/

“Consequently, reforms aimed at making the county the “local government of the future” would require perhaps insurmountable changes in state and local structures.”

This article examines the consequences of local government complexity on county revenue decisions in fourteen Texas counties comprising the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas. There are significant differences in the configuration of local governments in the two areas traceable to when cities, school districts, and special districts were created. County revenue decisions are also affected by the different configuration of governments in the two areas.

These findings challenge the conventional wisdom that states create local governments. Local choices are instrumental in shaping local government complexity. What governnent-types are chosen, and when, produce distinctive patterns of governance from one metropolitan area to the next, even in the same state. 

Published in Publius-the Journal of Federalism | Robert D. Thomas | 1993, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Local-Government-Complexity%3A-Consequences-for-and-Thomas-Boonyapratuang/ea6e432142bc2b08f38b37715bdcf599d3a132d4, https://consensus.app/details/consequently-reforms-aimed-making-government-future-thomas/8dedee8c70dc50189b7582fa159cb5fb/

“The role of local government is viewed in the context of the overall role of government per se. A particular advantage of local government lies in its ability to arrange for the provision of local public goods in line with local tastes and preferences.

A number of arguments suggest that local governments should be assigned adequate powers of local taxation to finance their expenditure responsibilities rather than having to rely on central government grant.”

Published in Wiley-Blackwell: Economic Affairs | P. Watt | 2006, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Principles-and-Theories-of-Local-Government-Watt/41b2d5a04462e5e149dd028e41783d8a557bc268, https://consensus.app/details/number-arguments-suggest-governments-assigned-powers-watt/729339b2a8f45b93bb1857cf4d6a5bbd/

“We find that people trust local government for different reasons than those that drive trust in national government. When opportunities for voice in local government are high, as in decentralized systems, people report greater trust in local government. When opportunities for voice in national government are limited, as in majoritarian systems, people report lower trust for national government and higher trust in local government.”

When people say that they trust local authorities, is it simply because they have generalized trust in national government? Or is trust in local government rooted in distinctive considerations, connected to the character of local communities and the balance of power across levels of government? We explore how trust in local and national government differs across individuals and across countries in western Europe.

We find that people trust local government for different reasons than those that drive trust in national government. Cross-national differences in levels of trust in government reflect the character of national institutions. While both proportional representation systems and federal systems are power-sharing designs, each has distinctive consequences for trust.

Published in International Political Science Review | J. Fitzgerald | 2016, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-roots-of-trust-in-local-government-in-western-Fitzgerald-Wolak/042f1a2b97dcd63908f6e3430b3c060b0dad5c29, https://consensus.app/details/find-people-trust-government-reasons-drive-government-fitzgerald/ac0523e91545533aa36939e11ddb7d37/