Introduction to 'Local Government Reform'

During the 1980s and 1990s most, if not all, municipal governments throughout the world have been subjected to a series of reforms. In economically advanced democracies such reforms are the most recent iteration of municipal modernization initiatives that extend back to the nineteenth century, and in some instances predate independent nationhood. In common with previous episodes of municipal reforms, the general purpose of the reforms over these two decades has been to eliminate problems that are deemed to hamper either municipal governance or other governance structures within each political system.