The State of Local Government

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.