Michael Goldsmith

Size and local democracy

How large should local governments be, and what are the implications of changing the scale of local governments for the quality of local democracy? These questions have stood at the centre of debates among scholars and public sector reformers alike from antiquity to the present. This monograph offers the first systematic cross-national investigation of these questions using empirical evidence gathered specifically for this purpose. Results provide insights that offer important touchstones for reform activities and academic research efforts in many countries

Localautonomy as a Meaningful Analytic Concept Comparing Local Government in the United States and the United Kingdom

Local autonomy is a common term in urban politics, but it has a variety of meanings, some quite ambiguous. A conceptually meaningful definition of local autonomy is constructed and then used to compare local government systems in the United States and the United Kingdom. Local autonomy is the ability of local governments to have an independent impact on the well-being of their citizens. We examine the nonlocal government determinants of well-being in both countries and ask what scope remains for local governments to have an impact. We also examine the constraints on local governments that limit their potential for affecting well-being and discuss the extent of local government autonomy in each country.