ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates how contemporary local government law perpetuates the historically imposed patterns of ethnic and racial segregation. It examines the historical roots of the structure of contemporary local government and describes its operative legal mechanisms and its social and political shortcomings. The normative debate on local government is characterized by tension among four main considerations, which often stand in opposition to one another. These considerations are: economic efficiency, democratic participation, community building, and social justice. The chapter presents three theoretical models of local governance and examines their respective strengths and weaknesses. The three theoretical models are public choice: the case for decentralization; regionalism: local government in the age of the metropolis; and political decentralization: the promise of an emancipating political space. The chapter matches a suitable structure of local government law to the unique social and political conditions of Israel.
