ABSTRACT
Globalisation has led to an increasing social and cultural interpenetration of different societies, the advance of information and communications technology, unprecedented free cross border flows of capital, and neoliberal economic strategies on the national level. This chapter interrogates the tensions in community governance in the context of globalisation by looking at four models: local government, citizen governance, partnerships and incorporated boards. Rural regeneration now takes place in the shadow of a globalised world-the place and the space within which social relations are constructed and organised. Community governance can be viewed in the traditional manner as local government. The scope of the local government domain is limited by its delegated authority through legislation. Citizen governance is legitimised through local accountability mechanisms established at neighbourhood or small-town level. Local people have always played advisory roles on local boards and other community associations, but the new public policy environment allows local people to engage in community governance through a variety of models.
