Local government
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Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such as a nation or state. Local governments generally act within the powers and functions assigned to them by law or directives of a higher level of government. In federal states, local government generally comprises a third or fourth level of government, whereas in unitary states, local government usually occupies the second or third level of government.
The institutions of local government vary greatly between countries, and even where similar arrangements exist, country-specific terminology often varies. Common designated names for different types of local government entities include counties, districts, cities, townships, towns, boroughs, parishes, municipalities, municipal corporations, shires, villages, and local government areas. The same term may be used in different countries to refer to local governance institutions with vastly different institutional features, powers, or functions.
In addition to general-purpose local governments, some countries have special-purpose local governments (special districts), such as independent school districts, elected water boards, or local service districts.
Although there is no single, commonly accepted definition of the term, the most precise definition of local governments is provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which divides the general government sector into three sub-sectors (central, state, and local government)[1] and defines local governments as "institutional units whose fiscal, legislative, and executive authority extends over the smallest geographical areas distinguished for administrative and political purposes."[2]
The IMF further notes that local governments "typically provide a wide range of services to local residents," while "the scope of their authority is generally much less than that of central government or state governments, and they may or may not be entitled to levy taxes." They are often heavily dependent on grants (transfers) from higher levels of government, and they may also act, to some extent, as agents of central or regional governments. They should also be able to appoint their own officers, independently of external administrative control. Even when local governments act as agents of central or state governments to some extent, they can be treated as a separate level of government, provided they are also able to raise and spend some funds on their own initiative and own responsibility."[2]
Other definitions for local governments are less prescriptive and emphasize the political or representative nature of local governments. For instance, OECD defines local governments as "decentralized entities whose governance bodies are elected through universal suffrage and which has general responsibilities and some autonomy with respect to budget, staff and assets."[3] The Local Public Sector Alliance defines local government institutions as "a corporate body (or institutional unit) that performs one or more public sector functions within a [local] jurisdiction that has adequate political, administrative, and fiscal autonomy and authority to respond to the needs and priorities of its constituents".[4]
Questions regarding the empowerment of local government institutions, the structure and nature of local political leadership, and the extent of local
Africa
Egypt
Governors have the civilian rank of minister and report directly to the prime minister, who chairs the Board of Governors and meets with them on a regular basis.[7] The Minister of Local Development coordinates the governors and their governorate's budgets.[8]
Mali
In recent years[when?], Mali has undertaken an ambitious decentralization program, which involves the capital district of Bamako, seven regions subdivided into 46 cercles, and 682 rural community districts (communes). The state retains an advisory role in administrative and fiscal matters, and it provides technical support, coordination, and legal recourse to these levels. Opportunities for direct political participation, and increased local responsibility for development have been improved.[citation needed]
In August–September 1998, elections were held for urban council members, who subsequently elected their mayors. In May/June 1999, citizens of the communes elected their communal council members for the first time. Female voter turnout was about 70% of the total, and observers considered the process open and transparent. With mayors, councils, and boards in place at the local level, newly elected officials, civil society organizations, decentralized technical services, private sector interests, other communes, and donor groups began partnering to further development.[citation needed]
Eventually, the cercles will be reinstituted (formerly grouping arrondissements) with a legal and financial basis of their own. Their councils will be chosen by and from members of the communal councils. The regions, at the highest decentralized level, will have a similar legal and financial autonomy, and will comprise a number of cercles within their geographical boundaries. Mali needs to build capacity at these levels, especially to mobilize and manage financial resources.[citation needed]
Nigeria
Nigeria as a federal republic operates three tiers of government: federal (or central), states and local government. The country's
South Africa
South Africa has a two-tiered local government system comprising local municipalities which fall into district municipalities, and metropolitan municipalities which span both tiers of local government.
Asia
Afghanistan
Afghanistan was traditionally divided into provinces governed by centrally appointed governors with considerable autonomy in local affairs. There are currently 34 provinces. During the Soviet occupation and the development of country-wide resistance, local areas came increasingly under the control of
The Taliban set up a shura (assembly), made up of senior Taliban members and important tribal from the area. Each shura made laws and collected taxes locally. The Taliban set up a provisional government for the whole of Afghanistan, but it did not exercise central control over the local shuras.[citation needed]
The process of setting up the transitional government in June 2002 by the Loya Jirga took many steps involving local government. First, at the district and municipal level, traditional shura councils met to pick electors—persons who cast ballots for Loya Jirga delegates. Each district or municipality had to choose a predetermined number of electors, based on the size of its population. The electors then traveled to regional centers and cast ballots, to choose from amongst themselves a smaller number of loya jirga delegates— according to allotted numbers assigned to each district. The delegates then took part in the Loya Jirga.[citation needed]
The warlords who rule various regions of the country exert local control. The transitional government is attempting to integrate local governing authorities with the central government, but it lacks the loyalty from the warlords necessary to its governing authority. More traditional elements of political authority—such as Sufi networks, royal lineage, clan strength, age-based wisdom, and the like—still exist and play a role in Afghan society. Karzai is relying on these traditional sources of authority in his challenge to the warlords and older Islamist leaders. The deep ethnic, linguistic, sectarian, tribal, racial, and regional cleavages present in the country create what is called "Qawm" identity, emphasizing the local over higher-order formations. Qawm refers to the group to which the individual considers himself to belong, whether a subtribe, village, valley, or neighborhood. Local governing authority relies upon these forms of identity and loyalty.[citation needed]
Armenia
Armenia is subdivided into eleven
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan is administratively divided into the following subdivisions: 67 districts (rayonlar), 11 cities (şəhərlər). The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is a territorial exlcave, which itself contains: 7 districts and a city. The rayons are further divided into municipalities. (Bələdiyyə).
Bangladesh
Bangladesh is divided into eight administrative divisions,[10] each named after their respective divisional headquarters: Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Rangpur and Mymensingh Division.
Divisions are divided into zila. There are 64 zila in Bangladesh, each further divided into upazila or thana. The area within each police station, except for those in metropolitan areas, is divided into several
Dhaka is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. The cities with a city corporation, having mayoral elections, include Dhaka South, Dhaka North, Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Barisal, Rangpur, Comilla and Gazipur. Other major cities, these and other municipalities electing a mayor and councilors for each ward, include Mymensingh, Gopalganj, Jessore, Bogra, Dinajpur, Saidapur, Narayanganj, Naogaon and Rangamati. Both the municipal heads are elected for a span of five years.
Brunei
The
. The administrative level of mukim lies below the district. At present, there are 38 mukims, with 17 in Brunei-Muara, 8 in Tutong, 8 in Belait and 5 in Temburong District. A mukim is headed by a penghulu. A village (Malay: kampung or kampong) is the lowest administrative level in Brunei and headed by a ketua kampong or village head. Its population varies from a few hundreds to tens of thousands.Cambodia
China
Georgia
The subdivisions of Georgia are
India
The Urban Local Bodies (ULBs):[14] are Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council (municipality) and Town panchayat (notified area council).
The Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), knowns as "Panchayats" are a three-tier system of local self-government in rural areas in India: District Panchayat (district level), Block Panchayat (block level) and Village Panchayat (village level).
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel
The Israeli Ministry of Interior recognizes four types of local government in Israel: [citation needed]
- Cities: 71 single-level urban municipalities, usually with populations exceeding 20,000 residents.
- Local councils: 141 single-level urban or rural municipalities, usually with populations between 2,000 and 20,000.
- Regional Councils: 54 bi-level municipalities which govern multiple rural communities located in relative geographic vicinity. The number of residents in the individual communities usually does not exceed 2000. There are no clear limits to the population and land area size of Israeli regional councils.
- Beer Sheva).
Japan
Since the
Kazakhstan
Korea
Malaysia
Local government is the lowest level in the system of government in Malaysia—after federal and state. Councillors are not elected in local-level elections which have been abolished in 1976, but rather appointed by state governments.[15] It has the power to collect taxes (in the form of assessment tax), to create laws and rules (in the form of by-laws) and grants licenses and permits for any trade in its area of jurisdiction, in addition to providing basic amenities, collecting and managing waste and garbage as well as planning and developing the area under its jurisdiction.
Myanmar
Nepal
Pakistan
Local government is the third tier of government in Pakistan, after Federal Government and Provincial Government. There are three types of administrative unit of local government in Pakistan are District Government Administrations, Town Municipal Administrations and Union Council Administrations
There are over five thousand local governments in Pakistan. Since 2001, these have been led by democratically elected local councils, each headed by a Nazim (the word means "supervisor" in Urdu, but is sometimes translated as Mayor). Some districts, incorporating large metropolitan areas, are called City Districts. A City District may contain subdivisions called Towns and Union Councils. Council elections are held every four years. District Governments also include a District Coordination Officer (DCO), who is a civil servant in-charge of all devolved departments. Currently, the Powers of Nazim are also held by the DCO.
Palestinian Authority
Local government in the
- governoratesand populations over 15,000 have 15-member councils. Localities with populations over 15,000 residents have 13-member councils and localities with populations between 4,000 and 15,000 have 9-member councils.
- Village Council (Palestinian Authority): Localities with populations between 800 and 1,500 have 3-member councils while those between 1,500 and −4,000 residents have 7-member councils.
Philippines
The
The country remains a unitary state and the National Government continues to have strong influence over local government units.A province is led by a governor along with the but their leadership is unelected.
The 1987 Philippine Constitution also provides for the existence of autonomous regions. The
Local governments have limited taxing authority. Most of their funds come from the national government via the Internal Revenue Allotment
Saudi Arabia
There are three levels of local government in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: the city council, the municipal council and the municipality.
The city council is the highest level of local government. The municipal councils began in 2005 and is the second level of local government. The municipality is the third level of local government. There are 178 municipalities across the kingdom. The first began in Jeddah during the Othmanic period. Each municipality is run by its city's mayor. Collectively, the kingdom's municipalities make up the Ministry of Municipality and Rural Affairs (MoMRA).
Sri Lanka
Syria
Taiwan
The
Tajikistan
Thailand
Turkey
Turkey has two levels of local government; provinces (Turkish: iller) and districts (Turkish: ilçeler).
The territory of Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces for administrative purposes. The provinces are organized into 7 regions for census purposes; however, they do not represent an administrative structure. Each province is divided into districts, for a total of 957 districts.
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Vietnam has 3 levels of local government:
- First tier: municipalities (thành phố) and provinces (tỉnh)
- Second tier: provincial cities (thành phố), district-level towns (thị xã) and rural districts (huyện)
- Third tier: wards (phường), towns (thị trấn) and communes (xã)
Each level has a People's Committee (executive – up to third tier), a People's Council (legislative – up to third tier) and a People's Court (judiciary – up to second tier).
Yemen
Europe
Albania
Since
, when they were replaced by the current system.Presently, Albania has 3–4 levels of local government :
- 12 counties (qarqet), sometimes known as prefectures (prefekturë) or administrative divisions
- 61 municipalities (bashki)
- 373 administrative units (Albanian: njësi administrative), sometimes known as communes (komuna), which also oversee about 3,000 villages(fshatra)
The prefects who oversee each county are appointed by the
Andorra
Some parishes have a further territorial subdivision. Ordino, La Massana and Sant Julià de Lòria are subdivided into quarts (quarters), while Canillo is subdivided into 10 veïnats (neighborhoods). Those mostly coincide with villages, which are found in all parishes. Each parish has its own elected mayor who is the nominal head of the local government known as a comú in Catalan.
Belarus
At the top level of administration,
At the second level, the regions are divided into raions ("districts").
Bulgaria
Since the 1880s, the number of territorial management units in Bulgaria has varied from seven to 26.[18] Between 1987 and 1999 the administrative structure consisted of nine provinces (oblasti, singular oblast). A new administrative structure was adopted in parallel with the decentralisation of the economic system.[19] It includes 27 provinces and a metropolitan capital province (Sofia-Grad). All areas take their names from their respective capital cities. The provinces subdivide into 264 municipalities.
Municipalities are run by mayors, who are elected to four-year terms, and by directly elected municipal councils. Bulgaria is a highly
Croatia
Czech Republic
The highest tier of local government in the
The regions are divided into seventy-six districts (okresy, singular okres) including three "statutory cities" (without Prague, which had special status). The districts lost most of their importance in 1999 in an administrative reform; they remain as territorial divisions and seats of various branches of state administration.[22] A further reform in effect since January 2003 created 204 Municipalities with Extended Competence (obce s rozšířenou působností); also obce III. stupně – third-level municipalities, unofficially also called "little districts" (Czech: 'malé okresy') which took over most of the administration of the former district authorities. Some of these are further divided between Municipalities with Commissioned Local Authority (obce s pověřeným obecním úřadem, shortened to pověřená obec, pl. pověřené obce; "second-level municipalities"). In 2007 the borders of the districts were slightly adjusted, and 119 municipalities are now within different districts.
Denmark
For local government purposes, Denmark is divided into five regions (Danish: regioner), with their most important area of responsibility being the public health service. They are also responsible for employment policies, while some regions are responsible for public mass transit. Regions are not financial independent as they rely entirely on central state funding (around 70%) and funding coming from the municipalities (around 30%). Regions are led by directly elected councils (regionsråd) consisting of 41 members each.
The regions are further divided into 98 municipalities (kommuner). Elections for the municipalities are held on the third Tuesday of November every four years.
Estonia
Estonia is divided into 79 municipalities (omavalitsus), and each municipality is a unit of self-government with its representative and executive bodies. Furthermore, the country is also divided into fifteen counties (Estonian: maakonnad), each of which were used to be led by a county governor (maavanem), who represents the national government at the regional level. This although changed with 2017 administrative reform.
Finland
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The most important administrative layer of local government in Finland are the 311 municipalities, which may also call themselves towns or cities. They account for half of public spending. Spending is financed by municipal income tax, property tax, state subsidies, and other revenue.
In addition to municipalities, there are two intermediate levels of local government. Municipalities co-operate in seventy-four
France
According to its Constitution of 1958, France has 3 levels of local government:
- 13 Régions (including Corsica) and 5 Régions d'outre-mer (Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte, Guadeloupe and French Guiana). Corsica is not referred to as a "région" but simply as a "collectivité territoriale", that merely means "local government area".
- 96 is both a commune and a département.
- There are 36,679 municipalities (in French: Communes).
However, in addition to the constitutional clauses of 1958, there now exist specificities:
- Intercommunalities are now a level of government between municipalities and departments.
- There exist 2 "pays d'outre-mer": French Polynesia and New Caledonia. The expression "pays d'outre-mer" is convenient as it can be understood in French as both "overseas country" and "overseas county/traditional area" (as evidenced by Pays de la Loire that is a home région, not a home "country"). French Polynesia works as an autonomous région, whereas New Caledonia has a sui generis local government status with specific institutions and even more autonomy.
Germany
Greece
Since 1 January 2011,
Hungary
For local government,
The local authorities of these cities have extended powers, but they belong to the territory of the respective county instead of being independent territorial units.
The counties are further subdivided into 198 districts (járások), and Budapest is its own 23 districts (kerületek).
Iceland
The
The municipalities are governed by municipal councils which are directly elected every four years. The sizes of these councils vary from five members in the smallest municipalities to fifteen in the largest one. Most municipalities except for the very small ones hire an executive manager who may or may not be a member of the municipal council. These managers are usually referred to as mayors (bæjarstjóri / borgarstjóri) in the mostly urban municipalities but "commune manager" (sveitarstjóri) in the rural or mixed municipalities.
Ireland
The Republic of Ireland's local government is laid out by the Local Government Reform Act 2014. With a few exceptions, local government is two-tier. At the lowest level are the municipal, metropolitan or borough councils, which are elected during local elections. These councillors from the relevant county then together form the council, termed either County or City and County Councils. For example, the 4 municipal districts in Westmeath County each elect their own councils, who together form Westmeath County Council. Many functions are performed by the Chief Executive, who is appointed by the Minister for Local Government.
The exceptions to the above is the county of Dublin and the cities of Cork and Galway, the later two's councils are directly elected with no lower council. Dublin county is made up of four local area authorities, each elected directly. There are thirty-one local authorities.
The main sources of funding for local government in Ireland are local property and motor tax revenues, payments from the Exchequer, charges for goods and services, and state grants.[23]
Italy
The Constitution of Italy defines three levels of local government:
- Regions: they were first acknowledged after the birth of the Italian republic in 1948. Numbering 20, they acquired a significant degree of autonomy after a constitutional reform was passed in 2001. Furthermore, 5 of them (namely Valle d'Aosta, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Sardinia and Sicily) have a special status and are given even more power than the 15 others.
- Provinces: they were the only local bodies in effect during the Kingdom of Italy (from the unification of Italy in 1861 to the birth of the Republic in 1948). Consequently, they used to serve many functions, but these were reduced as Regions absorbed more and more competences. Nowadays they number 107 and mostly care to roads, school buildings, and local zoning and planning. Finally, from 2015 onwards, 14 provinces officially became metropolitan cities.
- Communes: The Mayor and staff, caring for the needs of a single town or of a village and neighbouring minor towns or villages.
Major cities also have an extra tier of local government named Circoscrizione di Decentramento Comunale or, in some cities (e.g. Rome) Municipio.
Latvia
Latvia is a unitary state, currently divided into 110 municipalities (Latvian: novadi) and 9 republican cities (Latvian: republikas pilsētas) with their own council.
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein is divided into eleven municipalities (Gemeinden – singular Gemeinde), most consisting of only a single town.
Lithuania
 | This article needs to be updated. (June 2013) |
Lithuania has a three-tier division of local government: the country is divided into 10 counties (Lithuanian: singular – apskritis, plural – apskritys) that are further subdivided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: singular – savivaldybė, plural – savivaldybės) which consist of over 500 elderships (Lithuanian: singular – seniūnija, plural – seniūnijos).
The counties are ruled by
Municipalities are the most important administrative unit of local government. Each municipality has its own government and council, with elections taking place every four years. The mayor, who is a member of the council, is elected directly by the residents in a majority vote.[24] The council appoints elders to govern the elderships.
Elderships, numbering over 500, are the smallest units of local government. They provide public services such as registering births and deaths and identifying individuals or families in need of welfare.
Malta
Malta is a unitary
Netherlands
The Netherlands has three tiers of local government: national, provincial, municipal and water board.
The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces (
Municipalities (
Water boards (
Norway
Norway had 357 municipalities of varying size in 2024, each administered by an elected municipal council. They are grouped into 15 counties (fylker), each governed by an elected county council.[25]
Each county has a governor appointed by the central government, responsible for ensuring legality in their administration.[26] The municipal sector is a provider of vital services to the Norwegian public, accounting for about 20% of Norwegian GNP and 24% of total employment. They have the right to tax and to use their resources to support education, libraries, social security, and public works such as streetcar lines, gas and electricity works, roads, and town planning, but they are usually aided in these activities by state funds.[citation needed]
Oslo is the only urban center that alone constitutes a county; the remaining 14 counties consist of both urban and rural areas. County and municipal councils are popularly elected every four years.
Portugal
Currently, mainland Portugal is divided into 18 districts (in Portuguese, distritos). Each district takes the name of their respective capital city. Insular Portugal, comprising the two
Each district and each Autonomous region is divided into municipalities (in Portuguese, municípios) which, in turn, are subdivided into parishes (in Portuguese, freguesias).
Since 1976, when the two Autonomous regions of Portugal were established, the Azores and Madeira are no longer divided into districts.
Poland
Poland has three levels of subdivision. The Polish territory is divided into 16 voivodeships (provinces); these are further divided into 379 powiats (counties or districts), and these powiats are further divided into 2,479 gminas (communes or municipalities). Major cities normally have the status of both gmina and powiat.
Each voivodeship is jointly governed by the National-government appointed voivode and a locally elected sejmik (provincial assembly), which appoints an executive board led by a voivodeship marshal.
Russia
The Russian Federation consistes of eighty-five federal subjects that are constituent members of the Federation. However, two of these federal subjects — the
The modern administrative-territorial structures of the federal subjects vary significantly from one federal subject to another. While the implementation details may be considerably different, in general, however, the following types of high-level administrative divisions are recognized:
- administrative districts (raions)
- cities/towns and urban-type settlements of federal subject significance
- closed administrative-territorial formations
Typical lower-level administrative divisions include:
- selsoviets (rural councils)
- towns and urban-type settlements of the administrative district significance
- city districts
Slovenia
Slovenia has only one level of local self-government established: municipalities. The Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia provides also basis for establishing second level, regions, but they haven't been established yet (Article 143). There are two types of municipalities in Slovenia:
- urban municipalities (Art. 141 of the Constitution)
- (rural) municipalities (Art. 139 of the Constitution)
Slovenia signed (1994) and ratified (1996) European Charter of Local Self-Government without any reservations. The Charter is in force since March 1, 1997. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (Council of Europe) performed three monitorings (2001, 2011, and 2018).
Spain
Spain is divided into 17
. Finally, each province comprises a number of municipalities.Each administrative entity is given powers, structure, and boundaries by a law that was passed by the Prime Minister .
Law 7/1985,
Sweden
Every fourth year general elections are held in Sweden to elect members of the national parliament, 20 county council assemblies and 290 municipal assemblies. As the parliament elects the national government, the local assemblies elect their executive committees and their boards. Members in local committees and boards are elected proportionally by the political parties in the assemblies, giving all the major parties representation. The parties usually cooperate well on the local levels.
The county councils (landsting) are responsible for health care and usually provide transportation.
The municipalities (kommuner) are responsible for:
- social services, childcare, preschool, elderly care
- primary and secondary education
- planning and building
- health protection, water, sewerage, refuse, emergency services
On a voluntary basis, the municipalities provide sports, culture, housing, energy as well as commercial service.
The activities are financed by income taxes. Swedes pay around 20% of their taxable income to the municipality and around 11% to the county council. (The national government is financed by VAT and payroll taxes and fees.)
Ukraine
United Kingdom
The system of local government is different in each of the four home nations of the UK. In total there are 426 local authorities in the UK. 346 of these are in England, 11 in Northern Ireland, 32 in Scotland and 22 are in Wales.
England
The most complex system is in England, the result of numerous reforms and reorganisation over the centuries. The top-level of sub-national administration within England until the end of March 2012 consisted of the nine
The layers of elected local government vary. In different areas the highest tier of elected local government may be:
- counties, which may be
- single-tier unitary authorities, or
- divided into districts(also known as boroughs in some areas)
- districts, which are separate unitary authorities in some areas
- joint boards with other districts in the same metropolitan county
- London boroughs and the City of London
In most areas there is a lower tier of government,
Most civil parishes are in rural areas, but if the parish is a town the
Metropolitan counties, and a few
Isle of Man
Local government on the Isle of Man is partly based on the ancient parishes. There are four types of local authorities: a borough corporation, town commissioners, village commissioners, and parish commissioners.
Northern Ireland
Since 1 April 2015 Northern Ireland is divided into 11 districts. Local government in Northern Ireland does not carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom.
Scotland
Local government in Scotland is arranged on the lines of
Wales
Wales has a uniform system of 22 unitary authorities, variously styled as county, county borough, city or city and county local authorities. There are also communities, equivalent to parishes.
The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities in England and Wales. Its core membership is made up of 317 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association. Across the UK, the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) also works to assist local authorities in the UK to improve their frontline services. APSE works with more than 250 local authorities "to advise and share information and expertise on a broad range of frontline public services".[31]
North America
Canada
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In Canada's federal system, local government is the responsibility of provincial and territorial governments.[32] The most prominent form of local government is the municipality, which is a locally elected authority with responsibility over a variety of services, such as roads, parks, fire protection, policing, planning, libraries, transit, and waste management.[33] The exact responsibilities, powers, and governance of municipalities varies from province to province. In British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec, municipalities operate on a two-tiered system, where lower-tier local municipalities administer some services, such as fire protection or parks, while upper-tier regional municipalities administer shared services, such as utilities, waste management, or policing.[34][35][36] The remaining provinces and territories use a single-tier system of municipal government, where each municipality is legally independent of every other, although they may still voluntarily share services.
In addition to municipal government, some provinces maintain special purpose boards to govern police services, school districts, conservation authorities, or to provide certain municipal services to unincorporated areas that would not otherwise receive them.[37]
The federal government regulates First Nations band governments, which deliver local services to Indigenous reserves in the country.[38] Many band governments administer more than one reserve, and may participate in tribal councils, a form of voluntary regional organization for several band governments.[39]
Mexico
Mexico is a Federal Republic made up by 31
The principal unit of state government is the municipality. Mexico's 2,378 municipalities are governed by municipal presidents and municipal councils. State governors generally select the nominees for the municipal elections. Municipal budgets are approved by the respective state governors. Until 1997, the president appointed the mayor of Mexico City. Political reforms allowed the first open elections in 1997, and
United States
Local government in the United States refers to governmental jurisdictions below the level of the state. Most states have at least two tiers of local government: counties and municipalities. In some states, counties are divided into townships. There are several different types of jurisdictions at the municipal level, including the city, town, parish, borough, village, reservations and boundaries. The types and nature of these municipal entities varies from state to state.
Oceania
Australia
Local government is the third tier of government in Australia, after federal and state.
New Zealand
New Zealand has a local government system comprising two complementary sets of local authorities—regional councils and territorial authorities. There are 78 local authorities consisting of:
- 11 regional councils, which cover much of New Zealand's land area, and
- 67 territorial authorities (comprising 53 district councils, 12 city councils and 2 other councils).
Six of the territorial authorities are unitary authorities, which also have the powers of a regional council. They are Auckland Council, Nelson City Council, the Gisborne, Marlborough and Tasman district councils, and Chatham Islands Council.
Regional council areas are based on water catchment areas, whereas territorial authorities are based on community of interest and road access. Within a regional council area there are usually many city or district councils, although city and district councils can be in multiple regional council areas.
South America
Argentina
Argentina is a federation of 23 provinces and the federal capital of Buenos Aires. During the 19th century there was a bitter struggle between Buenos Aires and the interior provinces, and there has long been an element of tension regarding the division of powers between the central government and provincial bodies. The federal government retains control over such matters as the regulation of commerce, customs collections, currency, civil or commercial codes, or the appointment of foreign agents. The provincial governors are elected every four years.
The constitutional "national intervention" and "state of siege" powers of the president have been invoked frequently. The first of these powers was designed to "guarantee the republican form of government in the provinces." Since the adoption of the 1853 constitution, the federal government has intervened over 200 times, mostly by presidential decree. Under this authority, provincial and municipal offices may be declared vacant, appointments annulled, and local elections supervised. Between 1966 and 1973, all local legislatures were dissolved, and provincial governors were appointed by the new president. A restoration of provincial and municipal government followed the return to constitutional government in 1973. After the March 1976 coup, the federal government again intervened to remove all provincial governors and impose direct military rule over all municipalities. Since 1983, representative local government has been in force again.
Until 1996, the President appointed the mayor of Buenos Aires, and by law, the president and Congress controlled any legislation that affected the city. Constitutional reforms that year led to an elected mayoral position, and a 60-member Poder Legislativo (legislative power).
Brazil
Brazil is a federation consisting of 27 federative units: 26 states and one Federal District. Government exists at three levels: federal, state, and municipal. The states are subdivided into 5,570 municipalities, while the Federal District has no municipalities (divided into administrative regions instead) and has powers of both a state and a municipality..
Municipal government consists of an executive branch headed by a mayor (Prefeito/Prefeita), and a legislative branch (Câmara Municipal), serving four-year terms. Municipalities are enshrined in the constitution of 1988 as entities of the federation; their responsibilities are distinct from the other two levels in theory,[41] but overlap in practice (e.g. education, health, transportation).[42] With their broad powers, municipalities may create their own constitutions, termed organic law, and cannot be overruled by state governments.[42]
Elections at the municipal level follow a similar, partisan system to
Paraguay
Paraguay is divided into 17 departments, which are subdivided into districts, which, in turn, comprise municipalities (the minimum requirement for a municipality is 3,000 persons) and rural districts (partidos). A governor, elected by popular vote, runs each department. Municipal government is exercised through a municipal board, chosen by direct election, and an executive department. In the principal cities and capitals, the executive department is headed by a mayor appointed by the minister of the interior; in other localities, the mayor is appointed by the presidents of the municipal boards. Police chiefs are appointed by the central government.
Peru
Peru is divided into
Uruguay
Uruguay's administrative subdivisions consisted of nineteen territories called departments and governed by intendencias, which were subordinate to the central government and responsible for local administration. They enforced national laws and administered the nation's social and educational policies and institutions within their territories. These territories had limited taxing powers, but they could borrow funds and acquire property. They also had the power to establish unpaid five-member local boards or town councils in municipalities other than the departmental capital if the population was large enough to warrant such a body.
Executive authority was vested in a governor (intendente), who administered the department, and in a thirty-one-member departmental board (junta departmental), which carried out legislative functions. These functions included approval of the departmental budget and judicial actions, such as impeachment proceedings against departmental officials, including the governor. At the municipal level, a mayor (intendente municipal) assumed executive and administrative duties, carrying out resolutions made by the local board (whose members were appointed on the basis of proportional representation of the political parties). The governor was required to comply with and enforce the constitution and the laws and to promulgate the decrees enacted by the departmental board. The governor was authorized to prepare the budget, submit it for approval to the departmental board, appoint the board's employees, and, if necessary, discipline or suspend them. The governor represented the department in its relations with the national government and other departmental governments and in the negotiation of contracts with public or private agencies.
Like the governor, the members of the departmental board and the mayor were elected for five-year terms in direct, popular elections. A governor could be reelected only once, and candidates for the post had to meet the same requirements as those for a senator, in addition to being a native of the department or a resident therein for at least three years before assuming office. Departmental board members had to be at least twenty-three years of age, native born (or a legal citizen for at least three years), and a native of the department (or a resident for at least three years).
The board sat in the capital city of each department and exercised jurisdiction throughout the entire territory of the department. It could issue decrees and resolutions that it deemed necessary either on the suggestion of the governor or on its own initiative. It could approve budgets, fix the amount of taxes, request the intervention of the Accounts Tribunal for advice concerning departmental finances or administration, and remove from office—at the request of the governor—members of nonelective local departmental boards. The board also supervised local public services; public health; and primary, secondary, preparatory, industrial, and artistic education. Although Montevideo was the smallest department in terms of area (divided into twenty-three geographic zones that generally coincided with the electoral zones), its departmental board had sixty-five members in 1990; all other departments had thirty-one-member boards and a five-member executive council appointed by the departmental board, with proportional representation from the principal political parties.
Data as of December 1990[citation needed]
References
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Further reading
- Kemp, Roger L. Managing America's Cities: A Handbook for Local Government Productivity, McFarland and Co., Jefferson, NC, US, and London, Eng., UK 1998 (ISBN 0-7864-0408-6).
- Kemp, Roger L. Model Government Charters: A City, County, Regional, State, and Federal Handbook, McFarland and Co., Jefferson, NC, US, and London, Eng., UK, 2003 (ISBN 978-0-7864-3154-0).
- Kemp, Roger L. Forms of Local Government: A Handbook on City, County and Regional Options, McFarland and Co., Jefferson, NC, US, and London, Eng., UK, 2007 (ISBN 978-0-7864-3100-7).
- Lockner, Allyn O. Steps to Local Government Reform: A Guide to Tailoring Local Government Reforms to Fit Regional Governance Communities in Democracies. iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana, US, 2013 (ISBN 978-1-4620-1819-2).
External links
- Department of Local and Regional Democracy and Good Governance—Council of Europe
- The Congress in brief
- Rural local self-government challenges and development prospects by Rukhman Adukov
- Women in Governance, India on YouTube
- Using a Model Municipal Performance Measurement System to Assess Mid-sized Texas Cities.
- Factors Contributing to Municipal Annexation among Medium Sized Southern US Cities. Colin Rice
- United Cities and Local Governments Archived 2021-01-25 at the Wayback Machine is an organisation for cities, local governments and municipal associations throughout the world.
- Agenda 21 for culture Archived 2013-08-01 at the Wayback Machine is the reference document for cultural programmes of local authorities
- Rural Decentralization and Local Governance provides free access to selected e-resources and news on local governance in developing countries.
- Governance From Below Free to download studies, papers, data, and other resources on local government, decentralization and federalism.
