Global, national and subnational changes (political, economic, social and demographic) force local governments to search, reactively or proactively, for alternative organizational patterns and management styles. This work explores different approaches toward local government reorientation in selected Western countries, as well as the "reinvention" of local government in Eastern Europe. Eight national case-studies (US, Canada, UK, Germany, Norway, Israel, the Czech Republic and Russia) provide the empirical basis. From a theoretical point of view, the book exposes three main critical factors: the range of policy options facing local governments (strategic choice), their organizational capabilities to cope with major environmental shifts (strategic capabilities), and their capacity for organizational learning (including programmed experimentation, innovation and creativity).
