Local Government Reforms in Countries in Transition: A Global Perspective

by Hakim Aissaoui (Contribution by), Robert Cameron (Contribution by), Janice Caulfield (Contribution by), Terry N. Clark (Contribution by), Gideon Doron (Contribution by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739115725
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/21/2008
Series:	Studies in Public Policy
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	348
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.78(d)

About the Author

Fred A. Lazin is the Lynn & Lloyd Hurst Family Professor of Local Government & chair, Department of Politics & Government at Ben Gurion University. Matt Evans is a Post Doctoral Felllow at Northwestern University in the Political Science Department. Hellmut Wollmann is Professor Emeritus at Humboldt University in Berlin. Vincent Hoffmann-Martinot is the Director of Research at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and director of the Institute of Political Studies in Bordeaux.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Part 2 General Survey
Chapter 3 Changes, Ruptures, and Continuities in European Local Government Systems: Between Government and Governance
Chapter 4 Transforming Political Systems and Political Culture: What Works? Lessons from Bogota and Cities around the Globe
Chapter 5 Local Goods as Public Goods: A Nonpolitical Approach to the Production and Delivery of Municipal Goods and Services
Part 6 Post-Socialist Countries
Chapter 7 The Politics of Local Government Reform in Russia: From Decentralization to Recentralization
Chapter 8 Local Leadership in Post-Communist States: Poland in a Comparative Perspective
Chapter 9 Reform of Local and Regional Governments in Poland: Does the European Union Matter?
Chapter 10 Political Parties and their Role in Local Politics in the Post-Communist Czech Republic
Chapter 11 Reforming Public Administration: Romania's Winding Road to Europe
Chapter 12 Local Public Policies and the Access of Minorities to Public Services: Experience from Central and Eastern Europe
Part 13 Israel
Chapter 14 Local Government Amalgamation in Israel: Towards the Modernization of Local Government?
Chapter 15 Pluralism and Governance: Electoral Politics in Local Government in Israel
Chapter 16 Internal Migration and Local Authorities in Israel: Tiebout's Model Revisited
Chapter 17 Between Traditionalism and Modernity: Ruling Local Government in Arab Localities in Israel
Chapter 18 Arab Local Councils in Israel: The Democratic State and the Hamula
Part 19 Countries in Transition
Chapter 20 Local Government Reform in China: A Rational Actor Perspective
Chapter 21 The Political Obstacles to Local Government Reform in Egypt
Chapter 22 South African Local Government: The Limits of Institutional Reform

Editorial Reviews

This is an awesome collection of new thinking on neglected issues and provides a platform for future dialogue on how local political structures are indispensable for sustaining democracy. We are all wondering what works in keeping the hard won freedoms that new states seem to be in danger of losing almost from the moment of achieving them, and this remarkable volume will be necessary reading not only for scholars but for anyone with an interest in the decentralization of liberty.--Paul Rich, President, Policy Studies Organization

From the Publisher

This is an awesome collection of new thinking on neglected issues and provides a platform for future dialogue on how local political structures are indispensable for sustaining democracy. We are all wondering what works in keeping the hard won freedoms that new states seem to be in danger of losing almost from the moment of achieving them, and this remarkable volume will be necessary reading not only for scholars but for anyone with an interest in the decentralization of liberty.

Paul Rich