As contradictions between the theory and reality of decentralisation have intensified in recent years, the spirit of local government reform gradually waned in the Third World. The idea put forward by its advocates that decentralisation could mark the beginning of end of the bureaucratic rule has not been substantiated. It also appears from current studies that participation in local development has not increased in the post-colonial countries. On the contrary, the process of centralisation and bureaucratisation re-surfaced to serve the political and economic interests of the central and local elites. The adoption of the models of devolution, which many writers expected would bring positive results, failed to make a breakthrough in these countries. The issue often avoided by the protagonists in explaining the problems of development is that of the political economy of the rural society. The sceptics, however, argue that the class structure has a great deal to do with the failure of decentralisation policies in the Third World. Borrowing ideas from the available literature on access and decentralisation, one can ascertain this assumption. Local government in Bangladesh has its genetic origin in the pre-colonial ancient period. However, it grew up as a crippled child during British imperial rule. After years of experiments during the Pakistan and post-independence period, decentralisation failed to ensure people's participation in the development process. These reforms were politically motivated and aimed to strengthen the local support-base of the ruling regimes. In 1982, a major local government reform was launched with the introduction of the <i>upazila parishad</i> (sub-district council), which, before its abolition in 1991, attracted the interest of many national and international quarters for its ostensibly democratic structure and lofty promises towards the principles of participation, access and redistribution of resources. However, the impact of the <i>upazila</i> administration on redistribution and participation is disappointing.

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Out of twelve mayoral elections between 2000 and 2002, six independents were elected, despite there having been few independent and minor party councillors in these local authorities. Was the. independent success in mayoral elections accidental? Or was there any factor which enhanced independents' chance of being elected as mayor? These questions have not been examined by existing studies. This research advances the concept of the two dimensions of elections to comprehend various types of elections and hypothesises that institutional conditions and the behaviour of actors allow an independent or minor party candidate to have a better chance at a local executive election than at other elections. This research adopts both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The aggregate analysis of electoral results demonstrates that independent and minor party candidates at mayoral elections have constantly received a larger share of votes than their counterparts at Parliamentary and local council elections at the expense of the major parties. The analysis of survey data at London Mayoral elections suggests that each elector's partisanship and evaluation of candidates influenced the split of Mayoral and Assembly votes. Case studies of mayoral elections in Hartlepool, Stoke-on-Trent and Newham affirm that the outcome of mayoral elections is determined by the mixture of candidates' personalities, political issues and the national political tide.

Local governments in China have influenced both the success and failure of economic growth in their jurisdictions, and have shaped the transition process itself through their behaviour and response to Central government incentives. This study investigated the behaviour of China's local governments through the transition period, from a planned economy with state ownership, through the "duel track" economy and hybrid ownership, to the market oriented development today. Creating a nuanced classification of local government behaviour, this study attempts to explain the success or failure of their economic development policies. Two cities, Wenzhou and Yangzhou, were studied and compared to highlight the role of local governments in their development.

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Tambon Administrative Organizations (TAOs) are a relatively new tier of local government in the rural areas of Thailand, and these organizations have responsibilities for tourism and rural development. They reflect an increasing emphasis in the country on decentralizing policy-making and service delivery to local populations and on encouraging greater local democracy and accountability. In the past governance in Thailand has been highly centralized. Inevitably, there were some tensions between ensuring that these local government institutions met local requirements at the same time as ensuring there was integration and coordination with national government priorities and expectations. The study examines the institutional capacity of the TAOs in relation to their tourism and associated rural development responsibilities. There is an assessment of the extent to which these organizations were able to assume their responsibilities for tourism-related activities, including the extent to which they secured the necessary funding, expertise, internal organizational resources, political support from higher tiers of government, popular support from local communities, and wide participation from local actors. In order to examine these issues the study developed a conceptual framework which relates the institutional capacity of the TAOs to their relations with external policy networks and with local socio-economic networks within their local communities. An actor-oriented approach is used to explore the varying views held on these issues by the many different actors that interacted with the TAOs or were affected by them. Thus, there was an evaluation of these issues from the perspectives of TAO politicians and staff, from other government officials, and from business people and local residents living and working within the TAO areas. These approaches were used for in-depth examinations of the issues and processes for two case study TAOs in Thailand. It was found that actors in external policy networks considered that the TAOs had helped to improve the rural communities in Thailand, although they argued that tourism development could not be achieved by TAOs on their own. The level of TAO control over tourism development was significantly dependent on TAO access to central government resources. TAO connections within their local communities could be close, although support from individual local actors often depended on their interactions with the TAOs and the benefits they received. The TAOs could be more effective in tourism development when they drew on the expertise of local tourism businesses, the enthusiasm of local communities, and the opportunities for local cooperation. Effective TAO performance within their local communities was essential for the success of decentralized governance as a whole. The social capital associated with local trust, bonding networks and the norm of reciprocity strengthened the institutional capacity of the TAOs in relation to tourism development. Both hard and soft institutional capacities were crucial. These capacities often depended on the strength of the TAO linkages with external and also internal networks and support. Particularly important was the extent to which TAOs actively engaged their local communities, were accountable to them, and secured local trust and legitimacy. These findings were identified through the use of the study's conceptual framework, which is considered to have much potential for application to local government and tourism development in other countries and contexts.

This thesis examines local authority health policy in Sheffield from 1918 to 1948. Sheffield was the first British city to elect a Labour Council in 1926. The Sheffield Labour Party pursued a policy of municipal socialism campaigning on a platform of service provision to include housing, health, education and transport. Health and hospital policies were closely related. In hospital policy the Council operated within a mixed economy of health care to provide a municipal general hospital service. Voluntary hospitals in Sheffield relied on a contributory hospital scheme after the First World War and sought and received the support of the Labour movement. Before the introduction of the NHS the health and hospital services of the city operated as a system that featured a mix of pragmatism and ideology. The thesis argues that the role of politics and ideology has been overlooked in the history of British social policy. Government files relating to health policy and local government have been used as well as professional journals, local and national newspapers, Council Committee minutes, records of the Sheffield Labour Party and the records of the Sheffield Joint Hospitals Council. The work aims to offer a more detailed and more nuanced understanding of the development of local authority health policy in Sheffield before the NHS, than has previously been available. The case study examines how local social, cultural and political factors influenced the provision of health care. The work contributes to debates on the role of the Medical Officer of Health in the interwar years. The Sheffield example also illustrates how local actors and groups sought to address problems of finance and access in health care using the available policy instruments at a time when health services were locally controlled.