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This book offers a general introduction to and analysis of the history, theory and public policy of Australian local government systems. Conceived in an international comparative context and primarily from within the discipline of political studies, it also incorporates elements of economics and public administration. Existing research tends to conceptualise Australian local government as an element of public policy grounded in an 'administrative science' approach. A feature of this approach is that generally normative considerations form only a latent element of the discussions, which is invariably anchored in debates about institutional design rather than the normative defensibility of local government. The book addresses this point by providing an account of the terrain of theoretical debate alongside salient themes in public policy.
The increasing complexities of Australian local government place onerous demands on municipal managers and oblige them to continually upgrade their skills. This book examines the economic environment of contemporary local governance.
Australian local government finds itself operating under conditions of acute financial austerity, manifested most plainly in a burgeoning infrastructure backlog. Various policy measures have been adopted to relieve this financial distress, most notably recent structural reform programs centred on forced council amalgamation. However, compulsory consolidation has not only failed to achieve its intended aims, but it has also served to diminish 'local voice' and 'local choice' and left a lasting legacy of bitterness and division.By contrast, as an alternative method of reaping the benefits of scale, scope, specialisation and size in local government service provision, but without all the deleterious effects of forced council mergers, service shared services offer significant promise for local government. Councils in Cooperation is the first attempt to comprehensively explore and assess the potential of resource sharing, shared services and other forms of inter-council cooperation in the Australian local government sector.Drawing on the full weight of international and Australian literature, Councils in Cooperation evaluates the theoretical literature on shared services and advances a new conceptual framework for explaining the comparative performance of shared service programs in practice. The authors consider alternative models of shared service provision and investigate the relative merits of these models. The book then systematically assesses the global empirical evidence on shared services and explores successful - and failed - attempts at shared services in the Australian milieu, providing various case studies of Regional Organisations of Councils, Strategic Alliances as well as vertical and horizontal shared service arrangements in contexts as varied as Greater Western Sydney, the NSW Central Tablelands and Riverina, and Outback Queensland.The policy implications arising from this wealth of material are examined in depth in Councils in Cooperation. The authors present a cogent case for policy makers to encourage local authorities to pursue shared service arrangements in selected areas of policy provision so as to reap the benefits which can flow from larger scale and greater specialisation, rather than rely on the heavy-handed and blunt instrument of forced amalgamation. Moreover, heightened cooperation between councils may well foster a 'bottom-up' revival of regional development with much better prospects for success than the current pattern of 'top-down' regionalism simply imposed on regional communities by national and state governments.Brian Dollery in the News - 30 April 2013, SMH. Read full article...
Perspectives on Australian Local Government Reform draws upon the insights and expertise of an extraordinary group of contributors, drawn from practitioners with extensive and exceptional hands-on experience in local government, as well as scholars of Australian local government.
This book is the first comprehensive, full-scale treatment of the politics, law, and economics with regard to the policies and policy instruments for budget stabilization at the local level. It examines budget stabilization in the United States from the 1910s to 2010 (from adoption of public budgeting in this country through the Great Recession). In addition, it provides details on the methods and results of empirical tests of the effects of budget stabilization instruments on government operations, key/basic services provision, and some other aspects of social and economic life at the local level, including full-purpose governments (county, metro city, municipality, township, and village) as well as special (single-) purpose governments (like school districts and transportation districts). This book dissects an important and pressing issue in public financial administration, analyzes a lesson that has been in the learning process, especially in the United States, and identifies theoretical threads for scholarly refinement, which will be put into specific contexts of policy design and implementation. This book will be of interest to scholars in political science, economics, public choice and in public administration, where it will also appeal to policy-makers.
'Structural reform has been one of the most important, and yet one of the most neglected, aspects of modern local government. This book represents the first attempt, since the early seventies, at providing a comprehensive account of both the theory and practice of structural reform in local government in developed countries. Using recent policy experience from seven different countries, the authors present seminal theoretical perspectives on structural reforms in local governance and the policy implications deriving from them. Written by well-known scholars of local government from around the world, this volume is a "must-read" for all academics, practitioners, students and policymakers.' - Giorgio Brosio, University of Turin, Italy
'Development' is what most people see as progress in the places where they live and in the ways they live. It has to do with public services, the ways to complain when these are not delivered properly, and the spaces to change power structures. It is related to the economy, the opportunities to access a secure job, a sustainable livelihood and increased welfare while caring for the planet and others. It is also linked to the institutions that allow people to live life well, using resources ethically and doing business responsibly in relation to other communities and future generations. This edited collection examines the interconnections between local governance, economic development and institutions, by focusing on what initiatives work and under what conditions they do so. Based on a variety of theories and empirical data, it presents evidence from current experiences around the world, revealed by researchers across different continents and several generations.
In recent years there have been a number of significant reforms in local government accounting practices around the world. While the specific reasons for these changes vary, a common factor is the increasing need for governments to measure the efficacy and efficiency of their performance. Nowhere is this trend more apparent than at the local government level. This book aims to give a comparative international perspective on local government accounting innovations, and offers specific cases involving different economic, political and cultural conditions. Countries receiving extended treatment include Belgium, China, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Together, the essays offer a state-of-the-art take on these issues and identify key issues for future research.
Recent Australian local government structural reform has manifested as council amalgamations and predominantly as imposed merger processes. This book examines council amalgamations across Australia over the past two decades and uncovers the case of council amalgamation in the NSW Clarence Valley Council (CVC) since 2004. The case of forced amalgamation of four general-purpose and two county councils could have been a recipe for chaos; instead this book describes the gains and the challenges. Writing from deep seated knowledge of local government this book details the net positive economic outcomes and financial benefits against measurable indicators and describes the impacts on local democracy. Based on detailed research, this long term local government ‘insider’ perspective will be of value to all those interested in driving change through local government reform.
Policy Analysis in Australia offers a distinctly Australian interpretation of policy scholarship with eighteen chapters strongly reflecting the outstanding contributions of Australian scholars to the field of public policy. It provides a coherent overview of the strengths and opportunities for policy analysis in Australia. It recognises that government agencies are no longer regarded as the sole source of sound policy analysis, and takes a broad view of policy analysis capacity, both within institutions at all levels of government, and beyond government in the media, political parties, business, and non-government associations. It provides a valuable contribution to Australian scholarship about policy analysis in academic, professional, teaching and learning contexts, and is a key addition to research and teaching in comparative policy analysis and policy studies more generally.