The thesis explores changes in local democracy through an analysis of the challenges for councillors created by the growing phenomenon of social media. New platforms for online dialogue such as Twitter and Facebook offer ...

In the UK, local authorities are already the largest across Europe. There are moves in England and Wales to make some of these local authorities even larger. This is being carried out through voluntary mergers as well ...

There are many problems when examining the concept of 'good governance'. There are numerous definitions, not all of which are applicable to local government. Often, there is a clear gap in perceptions between the ...

This article reflects on how the philosophical foundations of public administration and the practice of local government can be linked together. Informed by Ongaro, E. (2017. Philosophy and public administration: An ...

Whether citizens should directly elect the mayor or whether only councillors should be able to indirectly choose the local political to the exclusion of the public from the process, is one of the most controversial debates ...

The chapter aims at highlighting and analyzing attempts to restore or improve the existing institutions of representative democracy – the councils and the councillors – in 15 different European countries, from a comparative ...

Much has been made of the dual polity concept of local government. By comparison less has been made of conceptualising local government’s dual purpose role. The political and service provision roles of local government ...

The paper reports the results of research conducted among councillors in England which explored how they operate in complex governing networks where they interact with a range of public and private bodies. Councillors, as ...

Reforming local government is a tool of government policy when faced with local, national and international pressures for change and no more so than in times of political, social and economic crises. The re-design of the ...

The chapter examines the organisation, activities and impact of party politics on the role of the county councillor as an elected representative. It will examine the way county councillors respond to party group demands ...