This book offers an overview of the legal, political, and broad intergovernmental environment in which relations between local and state units of government take place, the historical roots of the conflict among them, and an analysis of contemporary problems concerning local authority, local revenues, state interventions and takeovers, and the restructuring of local governments. The author pays special attention to local governmental autonomy and the goals and activities of local officials as they seek to secure resources, fend off regulations and interventions, and fight for survival as independent units. He looks at the intergovernmental struggle from the bottom up, but in the process examines a variety of political activities at the state level and the development and effects of several state policies. Berman finds considerable reason to be concerned about the viability and future of meaningful local government.

The trusted and proven Governing States and Localities guides you through the contentious environment of state and local politics and focuses on the role that economic and budget pressures play on issues facing state and local governments. With their engaging journalistic writing and crisp storytelling, Kevin B. Smith and Alan Greenblatt employ a comparative approach to explain how and why states and localities are both similar and different. The Seventh Edition is thoroughly updated to account for such major developments as state vs. federal conflicts over immigration reform, school shootings, and gun control; the impact of the Donald Trump presidency on intergovernmental relations and issues of central interest to states and localities; and the lingering effects of the Great Recession.

This book examines the issues and consequences of a declining property tax base with respect to local government autonomy. Some of the nation's leading scholars provide their views on how the property tax effects intergovernmental relations, local autonomy, and education finance. --from publisher description

This book introduces students to the complex landscape of state-local intergovernmental relations today. Each chapter illustrates conflict and cooperation for policy problems including the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental regulation, marijuana regulation, and government management capacity. The contributors, leading experts in the field, help students enhance their understanding of the importance of state-local relations in the U.S. federal system, argue for better analysis of the consequences of state-local relations for the quality of policy outcomes, and introduce them to public service career opportunities in state and local government.

Challenges to Local Government offers a timely discussion of how local governments have implemented public policies during the last decade. Concentrating on Britain and the United States (but with essays on Scandinavia, France and Canada) the authors document, explain and analyze the implications of these policies for local autonomy, focusing especially upon local economic initiatives.

This book presents new research results on the challenges of local politics in different European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries and Switzerland, together with theoretical considerations on the further development and strengthening of local self-government. It focuses on analyses of the most recent developments in local democracy and administration. "Most 'local government' books are written by believers. This book is different for its realistic visions of futures of local government. It shows how autonomy, digitalization, marketization, and amalgamation could be functional or dysfunctional, and also how this is affected by links to politics, and impacted by intergovernmental relations. This is a must read for all believers in local government." -Geert Bouckaert, KU Leuven Public Governance Institute, Belguim "The twenty chapters of this book provide a timely and thought-provoking addition to our understanding of local self-governance in eight countries in Northern and Central Europe. This book was completed shortly before the Corona-crisis crashed in. But the lessons to be learned from this volume will doubtlessly prove important in fully exploiting local government's potential in facing the challenges of the difficult times ahead." -Bas Denters, Professor of Public Administration, University of Twente, Netherlands "Very inspiring book that covers the most important aspects of local self-government within a comparative framework. As we might have expected, there is no general trend, no single best model but a variety of functionally equivalent settings and patterns. The book gives insight into the diversity and richness of local government, its very essence, actual challenges and transformations, and puts subnational policy making in a multi-level perspective of governance." -Andreas Ladner, Professor for Political Institutions and Public Administration at the IDHEAP, University of Lausanne, Switzerland "Covering eight countries, this ambitious volume compares developments in local governments across Europe. Local governments are on the front-line when it comes to responding to wicked issues like climate change and migration, yet face major challenges in terms of financial and human resources. Using rich empirical evidence, the volume presents a nuanced analysis of trends. No one direction emerges for Europe's local governments, but a rich seam of innovation is revealed covering political participation and public administration alike. Local governments have the potential to engage citizens in meaningful ways and deliver effective and responsive services, but this requires clear local leadership and support rather direction from the centre." -Vivien Lowndes, Professor of Public Policy, University of Birmingham, UK Tomas Bergström is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Lund University, Sweden. Jochen Franzke is Professor of Administrative Science at the University of Potsdam, Germany. Sabine Kuhlmann is Professor of Political Sciences, Administration and Organization at the University of Potsdam in Germany. She also is the Vice-Chair of the German National Regulatory Control Council at the German Federal Chancellery and she serves as the Vice-President for Western Europe of the IIAS and the Vice-President of EGPA. Ellen Wayenberg is Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium. .

Arizona Politics and Government analyzes the development and operation of one of the country?s fastest-growing states. David R. Berman cogently explains the distinctive history and culture of Arizona politics, thoroughly describing the development, structure, and operation of major components of the governing system. According to Berman, three forces have shaped the history, structure, and present character of Arizona politics: autonomy, the push for democracy, and economic development. Arizonans? belief in autonomy, derived from the traditional western individualism of settlers, has deeply influenced the role of their government, their views of outsiders, and intergovernmental relations. Concerns about democracy produced several progressive reforms in the early twentieth century, heightened awareness of the dangers of special-interest influence and corruption, and resulted in a long struggle to open the political system. A quest for economic development has been another major force in state politics, becoming especially significant during the last few decades.