Routledge Handbook of International Local Government

The Routledge Handbook of International Local Government conducts a rigorous, innovative and distinctive analysis of local government within a comparative, international context.

Examining the subject matter with unrivalled breadth and depth, this handbook shows how different cultures and countries develop different institutions, structures and processes over time, yet that all have some features in common – the most obvious of which is the recognition that some decisions are better made, some services better delivered, and some engagement with the state better organised if there is structured organisational expression of the importance of the local dimension of all these factors .

Thematically organised, it includes contributions from international experts with reference to the wider context in terms of geographies, local government modes, recent developments and possible further lines of research. It has a wide academic appeal internationally and will steer a course between the two dimensions of mono-jurisdictional studies and ‘cataloguing’ forms of comparison.

The Routledge Handbook of International Local Government will be essential reading and an authoritative reference for scholars, students, researchers and practitioners involved in, and actively concerned about, research on local government.

Richard Kerley is Emeritus Professor of Management at Queen Margaret University, UK, having previously been a Dean and Vice Principal over the period the former University College gained full University title. He is chair of the Centre for Scottish Public Policy and on the editorial boards of Local Government Studies and the International Journal of Public Management.

Joyce Liddle is Professor at Newcastle Business School, University of Northumbria, UK. She is a Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences, Fellow of Regional Studies Association, and Fellow of Joint University Council. She recently stood down as Honorary Chair of the UK Joint University Council and was formerly Chair of its Public Administration Committee. She is EAB member on 7 international journals and researches in local and regional government, public leadership, management and entrepreneurship, and regularly publishes work in noted international journals in the field.

Pamela T. Dunning is Associate Professor of Public Administration at Troy University, USA. She is Chair of the Section on Public Administration Education within the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA), a previous Hampton Roads Chapter President in ASPA, and is on the editorial board of the Sage Journal Teaching Public Administration.