The State of Local Government

Abstract

This paper and a special issue of the journal addresses the varying capacity of local governments in different regions in the world. Local Government Capacity as a concept can have varying definitions, but in this framework it seems adequate to simply define it as `the ability of local government to perform their functions in an effective and efficient way´. The idea behind this special issue argues that in order to improve the capacity of local governments especially in regions where its adequate performance is severely needed, a more differentiated approach to capacity-building is required, pinpointing the main factors inhibiting local government performance.