"Good local governance" reflects the dual functions of local government. On the one hand, democratic regimes gain input legitimacy by responsiveness and by being inclusive towards the preferences of their citizens. On the other hand, they achieve output legitimacy by effectively delivering public goods and services. Their governance strategies follow three major paths - "decentralisation," "political administrative reforms" and "participatory reforms". But national contexts, actors, political culture and path dependency matter a lot. In this book continent-wide developments are compared by using relevant country studies. This comparative approach focuses on "developing countries" in Asia, Africa and Latin America, comparing and contrasting their experience with that of European countries

"Good local governance" reflects the dual functions of local government. On the one hand, democratic regimes gain input legitimacy by responsiveness and by being inclusive towards the preferences of their citizens. On the other hand, they achieve output legitimacy by effectively delivering public goods and services. Their governance strategies follow three major paths - "decentralisation," "political administrative reforms" and "participatory reforms". But national contexts, actors, political culture and path dependency matter a lot. In this book continent-wide developments are compared by using relevant country studies. This comparative approach focuses on "developing countries" in Asia, Africa and Latin America, comparing and contrasting their experience with that of European countries

When the editors of this volume met in Mannheim at the European Consor­ tium of Political Research Local Government Workshop in 1999, they dis­ cussed the possibility of a North-South meeting of minds to discuss some common experiences of local government reform. Further discussions with Harald Baldersheim, Chair of the International Political Science Associa­ tions'' Research Sub Committee No. 5 suggested there was room for such a meeting within the ambit of IPSA activities and, indeed, for a subsequent publication to form part of aseries of local government studies. With the financial and logistical assistance of the New South Wales Lo­ cal Government and Shires Association based in Sydney Australia, a confer­ ence entitled "Local Government at the Millennium" was organised. The editors would like to thank the NSWLGSA for their assistance in bringing together the conference speakers some of whom are contributors to this vol­ urne. In addition, we each have to ray our own debt of thanks to specific in­ stitutions which provided support with financial assistance or making avail­ able a conducive work environment to bring this collection of papers together as a book. These are the University of New South Wales, the University of Glamorgan, and the University of Troms0. The editors would especially like to thank the Norwegian Ministry of Municipal and Regional Affairs, repre­ sented by Mrs. Christine Hjortland, for financial support for editorial meet­ ings, and Mr. Murray Kidnie, Secretary of the NSWLGSA for his early commitment to the project.

"Good local governance" reflects the dual functions of local government. On the one hand, democratic regimes gain input legitimacy by responsiveness and by being inclusive towards the preferences of their citizens. On the other hand, they achieve output legitimacy by effectively delivering public goods and services. Their governance strategies follow three major paths - "decentralisation," "political administrative reforms" and "participatory reforms". But national contexts, actors, political culture and path dependency matter a lot. In this book continent-wide developments are compared by using relevant country studies. This comparative approach focuses on "developing countries" in Asia, Africa and Latin America, comparing and contrasting their experience with that of European countries

"Good local governance" reflects the dual functions of local government. On the one hand, democratic regimes gain input legitimacy by responsiveness and by being inclusive towards the preferences of their citizens. On the other hand, they achieve output legitimacy by effectively delivering public goods and services. Their governance strategies follow three major paths - "decentralisation," "political administrative reforms" and "participatory reforms". But national contexts, actors, political culture and path dependency matter a lot. In this book continent-wide developments are compared by using relevant country studies. This comparative approach focuses on "developing countries" in Asia, Africa and Latin America, comparing and contrasting their experience with that of European countries

When the editors of this volume met in Mannheim at the European Consor­ tium of Political Research Local Government Workshop in 1999, they dis­ cussed the possibility of a North-South meeting of minds to discuss some common experiences of local government reform. Further discussions with Harald Baldersheim, Chair of the International Political Science Associa­ tions'' Research Sub Committee No. 5 suggested there was room for such a meeting within the ambit of IPSA activities and, indeed, for a subsequent publication to form part of aseries of local government studies. With the financial and logistical assistance of the New South Wales Lo­ cal Government and Shires Association based in Sydney Australia, a confer­ ence entitled "Local Government at the Millennium" was organised. The editors would like to thank the NSWLGSA for their assistance in bringing together the conference speakers some of whom are contributors to this vol­ urne. In addition, we each have to ray our own debt of thanks to specific in­ stitutions which provided support with financial assistance or making avail­ able a conducive work environment to bring this collection of papers together as a book. These are the University of New South Wales, the University of Glamorgan, and the University of Troms0. The editors would especially like to thank the Norwegian Ministry of Municipal and Regional Affairs, repre­ sented by Mrs. Christine Hjortland, for financial support for editorial meet­ ings, and Mr. Murray Kidnie, Secretary of the NSWLGSA for his early commitment to the project.