ABSTRACT
The rich array of national, regional, cultural, and community settings establishes various contexts in which local government takes place. The role of local governance in a large country’s federal system, for example, may be remarkably different from the role played by local authorities in small highly centralized countries … . Municipalities differ signifi cantly – often within a single country or setting – on the degree of devolution and the types of governing responsibilities exercised at the local level.1
