Local Government around the world

Local Government around the world

Local Governments are as old as that of human civilization and in many countries around the world local governments are the foundation upon which the modern state is established. A preliminary reading about the Local Governments in various countries of the world show us that large or small, developed or under developed, some form of Local governments exist to deliver amenities and services at local level.

However they differ widely in their structure, powers, functional domain, fiscal resources etc. In many of the European countries there has been efforts on the part of the government to decentralize the powers and functions, which were otherwise centralized. The question of devolution of finances, the jurisdictional issues in policing, transport and inter-state commerce are some of the pending and irritants in the case of the developed countries. Whereas in the developing countries, there is more and more attempt on the part of the central or federal governments to centralize the powers and financial resources. In India the constant pressure is being exerted on the central government for more devolution of administrative and financial powers to state as well as local governments.