This innovative book proposes a new institutional arrangement for government to fulfil the needs of its citizens as well as possible. Existing aspects of federalism and direct democracy in Europe are strengthened, and as a result future developments arising in the region are coped with better. In this book Bruno Frey and Reiner Eichenberger propose a new model of federalism which includes new types of governmental units established by citizens from below. These units are called functional, overlapping and competing jurisdictions as they extend over task-specific areas and therefore overlap....

An examination of the combined impact of decentralization and diversity on regional equality of service provision in Russia, and in particular on the provision of education. It begins with an analysis of the system of intergovernmental transfers and goes on to explore the nature and extent of disparities in education spending, paying particular attention to regions where spending has fallen furthest.

This text provides a long-term perspective on intergovernmental grants policies in the US since the 1970s, spanning six presidential administrations and encompassing a diverse set of political and economic conditions. It contributes to critical assessments of intergovernmental grant issues such as: whether state and local government spending responds symmetrically to increases or decreases in federal aid; the effects of converting categorical grants to block grants on programme spending; and the role of public interest versus political factors in determining federal aid distribution. The...

The Political Economy of Local Government draws upon recent developments in economics, including new institutional economics, and contemporary advances in the theories of social capital and leadership, in order to explain local government policy formulation. The authors also examine rival minimalist and activist approaches to local government reform, against the background of paradigmatic changes in public management and shifting styles of policy leadership.

A collection of studies of intergovernmental grant systems from around the world, this book offers descriptions and critical assessments of grant systems from countries including Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, India, Korea, Indonesia and China.

It is hard to think of anyone who has contributed so much and so widely to research in international public finance since the 1960s as has Richard Bird. This volume of essays emerged from a conference dedicated to Bird, and aims to expand our understanding of international public finance. The topics covered reflect the wide contributions of Bird to the subject of international public finance, including original reviews of intergovernmental fiscal relations, fiscal policy and tax evasion and tax administration, all with a special focus on transition and developing countries. These essays...

Examining issues of international relevance in the ongoing redesign of the South African local government fiscal system, the contributors to this volume analyse the major changes that have taken place since the demise of apartheid. The 1996 Constitutions and subsequent leglisation dramatically redefined the public sector, mandating the development of democratic local governments empowered to provide a wide variety of key public services. However, the definition and implentation of new local functions and the supporting democratic decision-making and managerial capabilities are emerging more...

Representing a unique contribution to the analysis and discussion of the unfolding Eurozone crisis in terms of the relationship between central and local government, this book addresses a number of important fiscal and political economy questions. To what extent have local and regional governments contributed to the crisis? To what degree have subnational services and investments borne the brunt of the adjustments? How have multi-level fissures affected tensions between different levels of government from the supranational to the local? This volume covers these and many other critical issues...

Fiscal Decentralization and Budget Control explores possible institutional solutions to fiscal instability in countries that have traditionally been caught up in problems of over-expenditure and over-indebtedness. How can governments control spending pressure from influential groups, often representing historically grown regional interests? Drawing on a mix of statistical analyses and case studies in institutional theory, the book provides new insights on previous stabilizations in Latin America and facilitates a better understanding of common dynamics of deficits and debt accumulation.