Open AccessRepresentative Democracy in Australian Local Government
Author(s) -
Colin Hearfield,
Brian Dollery
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
commonwealth journal of local governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1836-0394
DOI - 10.5130/cjlg.v0i2.1008
Subject(s) - legitimacy , local government , politics , democracy , representation (politics) , franchise , autonomy , state (computer science) , public administration , political science , government (linguistics) , representative democracy , political economy , law , economics , business , computer science , business administration , linguistics , philosophy , algorithm
In an assessment of representative democracy in Australian local government, this paper considers long-run changes in forms of political representation, methods of vote counting, franchise arrangements, numbers of local government bodies and elected representatives, as well as the thorny question of constitutional recognition. This discussion is set against the background of ongoing tensions between the drive for economic efficiency and the maintenance of political legitimacy, along with more deep-seated divisions emerging from the legal relationship between local and state governments and the resultant problems inherent in local government autonomy versus state intervention