Contents -- Tables, Figures, and Boxes -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- PART 1: LOCAL DEMOCRACY, A CONTESTED NOTION -- 1 Local Self-Government: Perspectives on Democracy -- Local Governments: Agents of Democracy? -- Conclusion -- 2 Local Democracy and Self-Government: The Historical Legacy -- Aboriginal Peoples -- The Loyalists and Home Rule -- Urban Reform: Efficiency versus Local Democracy -- The Era of Activism: The 1960s and 1970s -- Local Politics at the Turn of the Millennium -- Global Forces and Local Governance -- Conclusion -- 3 Avenues of Participation in Local Governance -- Public Participation in Local Government -- Party Politics in Local Government -- Choosing Representatives: A Democratic Process? -- Expanding Civic Engagement -- Challenges of Collaborative Decision Making -- Conclusion -- PART 2: SHIFTING RESPONSIBILITIES: INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS -- 4 The Evolution of Provincial-Local Relations and Municipal Government -- Atlantic Provinces -- Central Canada: Quebec and Ontario -- Western Provinces -- Northern Territories -- Conclusion -- 5 Municipal Restructuring -- School Board Reform -- Modern Restructuring -- Conclusion -- 6 Contemporary Intergovernmental Relations -- Provincial-Municipal Relations -- Federal-Municipal Relations -- The Role of the Courts: The Case of Pesticide in Hudson, Quebec -- Municipal Associations: Influence and Lobbying -- Disentanglement -- Intergovernmental Transfers and Revenue Sharing -- Amalgamation -- Post-Amalgamation and Intergovernmental Relations -- Northern Communities: "Beyond Hope and Proud of It" -- Centralization or Decentralization: A Zero-Sum Proposition? -- Conclusion -- PART 3: THE POLITICS OF SPACE, PLACE, AND ECOSYSTEMS -- 7 Core and Peripheries to Networked Societies -- Hinterland and Metropolis -- The Politics of Economic Development and Location.

Global and Charter Cities -- Information Technology and Regional Politics -- Conclusion -- 8 The Politics of Urban Planning -- Growing Cities -- Planning Processes Today -- Organizing Socio-Political Territory -- Conclusion -- 9 Environmental Challenges: Redefining the Public Interest -- The Quest for Sustainability -- The Struggle to Define the Public Interest -- Local Environmental Responsibilities -- Systemic Approaches -- Conclusion -- PART 4: THE BUSINESS OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY -- 10 Local Public Administration -- Principles of Public Administration -- Accountability, Efficiency and Effectiveness -- Administrative Models -- Departmental Organization -- Implications of Contemporary Structural Reorganizations -- The ABCs of Special Purpose Bodies -- Public Administration and Policy -- Broadening the Agenda: Policy Making for a Sustainable Community -- Conclusion -- 11 Business, Management, and the Municipal Corporation -- The Municipal Corporation -- Science, Business, and Early Public Administration -- The Welfare State -- Alternative Service Delivery -- The New Public Management -- The Case of Finance: Administration and Management -- Public Choice and Education Policy -- Conclusion -- PART 5: SURFING INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: LOCAL POLITICAL COMMUNICATIONS -- 12 Local Channels of Information -- Early Communications -- Integrated Communications and Political Influence -- Gatekeepers of Information -- The Channel Controllers -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Photography Credits -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.