Overview
- Offers a fresh look at the ‘problem’ of local government that goes beyond the tired old debates of consolidation or cooperation
- Considers how local government might be re-created with a new political structure, remit, financing, and intergovernmental relations
- Provides a comprehensive theory for local government that moves beyond economic efficiency or political prescriptions for constraining budget-maximizing executives to also consider the best assignment of functions to balance human dignity with the common good
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
Keywords
- Local Government
- Public Administration
- Government Services
- Subsidiarity
- Political Structure
- Taxpayer Revolts
- Voter Turnout
- Uncontested Elections
- Service Collaboration
- Sortition
- Fiscal Equivalence
- Shared Services
- Local Government Reform
- Local Government Consolidation
- Local Government Amalgamation
- Natural Law Philosophy
- Austerity
About this book
This book is a bold prescription for local government reform that moves well beyond the old arguments regarding consolidations (also referred to as amalgamations) and co-operation (sometimes referred to as shared services) to paint a picture of an efficient, effective tier of government that strikes a balance between the right of persons to pursue their existential ends and the need to promote the common good.
The book presents a system of local government that balances human dignity with the common good, restrains Leviathan, provides a voice for the disenfranchised (and even the disinterested), and delivers goods and services efficiently and effectively. Ironically, what is often argued to be the weakness of local government in many jurisdictions – the fact that it is merely a creature of statute – is also the best hope we have of making the oft cited rhetoric about how ‘local government is the closest to the people that serves the people best’ become reality.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Joseph Drew is an Associate Professor of Local Government and Public Policy based at the Institute for Public Policy and Governance at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:IPPG), Sydney, Australia, and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Business Administration, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan. His research interests focus on empirical public policy analysis, natural law philosophy, and the study of rhetoric and heresthetic.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Reforming Local Government
Book Subtitle: Consolidation, Cooperation, or Re-creation?
Authors: Joseph Drew
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6503-8
Publisher: Springer Singapore
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-15-6502-1Published: 24 June 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-981-15-6505-2Published: 24 June 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-981-15-6503-8Published: 23 June 2020
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VII, 166
Number of Illustrations: 7 b/w illustrations, 9 illustrations in colour
Topics: Governance and Government, Political Theory, Public Administration, Public Policy, Comparative Politics