Teaching Local and Regional Governance

This chapter examines how local and regional governance is taught, using the subject of the UK as a case study. The topic is particularly challenging because the UK does not have a standardised system of regional and local government. Each of the four countries is different. Added to that, the system in England is not uniform, and the concept of a 'regional' identity is not strong. As a consequences, the teaching of this subject differs in each of the countries. In Scotland, for example, priority is given to the Scottish Government over the Westminster Government. Local government, in all systems, is sadly neglected, but to varying degrees. A further complication is how to teach the systems of UK regional and local government to non-UK nationals, be it overseas students studying in the UK or teaching the subject matter overseas. Having experiences of both, I will draw on these in illuminating both the difficulties and the rewards in teaching this subject matter.