local government

local government

The Role and Impact of Local Government in Modern Society

1. Introduction to Local Government

Local governments meet the needs and provide the services for a broad array of citizens that are located within their particular governmental units, such as cities, towns, townships, or counties. There are many services that this government is responsible for providing directly to the citizens. In addition to direct services, local governments are also responsible for coordinating and planning the delivery of intergovernmental programs between the various tiers of government such as communications between the individual agency and other local government entities (school districts, special programs for the handicapped, regional planning programs, etc.), other local governments, the state, or the national government. Seldom does local government, with the exception of larger cities, attempt to carry out service provision alone; thus, local governments function as aiders and coordinators in a web of services that has been woven by all levels of government.

Local governments have existed for many centuries to provide a vast number of services to the citizens of their governmental unit or area, usually within a single community. In many cases, particularly in the larger cities, local governments rise to the role of being a major governmental unit, just under the state or national government level. Most local governments in the United States, however, are classified as general purpose and are established to deliver a broad range of services to a wide variety of residents.

2. Functions and Responsibilities of Local Government

Indeed, there is no doubt that local governments are endowed with substantial power, which encompasses not only the organization and delivery of many services and facilities that are essential for the life and well-being of the local communities they represent but also a number of fundamental functions of a broader political nature. It is therefore no surprise that the 1996 CLRAE Recommendation and most other international and supranational documents usually include among the basic principles of community democracy and local self-government: the right of citizens to elect, on the basis of universal and secret suffrage, their local representatives; the existence, in the areas of responsible government, of elected bodies, deliberative in character, wherewith citizens are represented and have the power to establish the goals to be pursued and to make decisions and rules in local matters; the freedom of local elected bodies to adopt the most appropriate organizational structure guaranteed by full freedom of decision and action, providing this does not infringe upon democratic principles and human rights, which are common to the whole of a state’s territory.

While some of these characteristics of local government are inherent in its specific nature and role, others are derived from the distribution of tasks and responsibilities between national and sub-national tiers as well as from its status in relation to both the central government and other levels of administration. In this context, it is useful to recall the classification of five models of governance proposed in 1996 by the Italian political scientist and economist Luigi Bobbio. Among them, the second model, which he called the Executive Model, is characterized by a relatively complete level of competence on the part of the constituent components of the United Nations, including local government.

3. Challenges and Opportunities Facing Local Government

The concept of local/state imbalance is not new. It was first used by Tocqueville as his explanation of the uniqueness of the American Experiment, suggesting on the one hand that the size of the Republic would ensure its strength, and on the other, only small jurisdictions would possess the ability to provide a human scale and to reflect the will of the people. The clearest definition of local government comes from France during its period of constitutional development from 1789 to 1815. Some local government characteristics are universally agreed and easily defined – an effective level of power, some form of geographical or administrative unit, an organic relation to the people it serves, and a voice strong enough to represent the concerns of at least a significant group of those people: defines the tasks assigned, whether these are unusually clear or frequently overlapping.

I have noted with interest a defining paradox of our times – strong cities and weak states. Not only does the state seem to be abdicating much of its social responsibilities, but decentralization and devolution are being championed as a way to ensure that development and democracy are given a new meaning, thus lending effect to the conviction that both can be built from the grassroots upwards. There is particular support for giving local government increased resources and a redefined leadership education training to manage their areas more effectively. It is also believed that the solution to the growing problem of legitimacy and the destructive welfare state lies in some redefined collaborative partnership. Yet just at the moment we are telling all western countries, including the United States, that markets as well as governments are looking now at local government political realities, which in some instances seem. I would like to say “as a Scot” seem similar to those of the declining and decadent 19th century.

4. Innovations and Best Practices in Local Governance

Municipal projects to build locally owned high-speed networks also are attracting users and providers to underserved areas. Small municipal governments can get three or four fiber runs to businesses in return for laying in a fiber trunk for rural areas. As the planners for the Franklin County FiberRing in Massachusetts say, this is one case where one person’s middle mile is another person’s last mile.

The city of Fultz, Louisiana, made a deal with NuVio to provide bundled services for them and their businesses in return for using their telephone pole rights of way to spread Wi-Fi for the city. High-speed networks also serve as an attractor for businesses. City officials report the interest in them from an expanding number of businesses outside of Los Angeles. Small businesses find that they can escape the long waits for Comcast or Verizon when it comes to the installation of T1 lines.

The city of Stamford True is running a municipal fiber network for its own uses. It has also enticed eight private ISPs to sell data services over the network. They conduct 250,000 transactions for city services a month over the network. Their wireless downtown network has been adopted by 3,000 residents of Stamford.

The identification and authentication of those who are in their senior days is a treasure trove of opportunity for identity thieves. Security applications are thus very important for local government in providing their online transactions. Fortunately, the growth of other public services has created an infrastructure for local governments as well.

Security is a significant issue for all providers. The amount of personal financial, property ownership, and the background data that most city governments maintain are prized by many types of criminals. All transactions that involve billing for services or fines in which a credit card is exchanged are potential opportunities for ID theft. Social Security and retirement payments are made by local governments in some countries.

Most innovative applications are developed at the local government level. Smaller cities often have significantly fewer providers of government services. They tend more often to contract services to the private sector because they lack the diversity of experience available to larger cities. This often means that the public sector is a force for encouraging the development of new services and applications at the local level.