ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the relationship between municipal electoral/government structure and the administration of an inherently geographical public programme. Through the exploration of one particular case study, concerning the designation of target areas to be eligible for housing improvement funds, it has been shown that the relationship between these targeting strategies and municipal government structure is potentially an important one. In the case study selected, a system of by-ward council elections every other year has served to make the neighbourhood unit an almost continuous focus of political campaigning. The process of spatial targeting for the allocation of housing improvement funding showed a tendency toward broad, rather than narrow, territorial coverage, resulting from a geographically broad system of representation. Further, as long as the neighbourhood is a consistent focus of political attention there is a potentially strong link between electoral structure and the politicization of community issues.
