In the era of globalization, comparative government and politics have come to the forefront due to the transformations of the social welfare state and the subsequent social, economic, political, cultural, technological and administrative changes. Taking a particular look at local government systems can uncover new perspectives on issues related to globalization, localization, governance, new democracy movements, managerial reformation, and privatization. Comparative Studies and Regionally-Focused Cases Examining Local Governments is a pivotal reference source for the latest scholarly research on the role played by local governments in overall administration, types and models of government at the local level, consequences of managerial reformations, and new develops regarding structure, process, personnel, and policymaking aspects of government. Highlighting relevant perspectives from comparative research and case studies, this book is ideally designed for students, government officials, politicians, civil society representatives, and academicians.

This book represents a powerful analysis of the challenges of metropolitan governance in all its messiness and complexity. It examines Latin American metropolitan governance by focusing on the issue of public service provision and comparatively examining five of the largest and most complex urban agglomerations in the region: Buenos Aires, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City and Santiago. The volume identifies and discusses the most pressing challenges associated with metropolitan coordination and the coverage, quality and financial sustainability of service delivery. It also reveals a number of spatial inequalities associated with inadequate provision, which may perpetuate poverty and other inequalities. Metropolitan Governance in Latin America will be valuable reading for advanced students, researchers and policymakers tackling themes of urban planning, spatial inequality, public service provision and Latin American urban development.

A setenta años de su fundación, El Colegio de México publica esta serie de dieciséis volúmenes, titulada Los grandes problemas de México, en la que se analizan los mayores retos de la realidad mexicana contemporánea, con el fin de definir los desafíos que enfrentamos en el siglo XXI y proponer algunas posibles respuestas y estrategias para resolver nuestros problemas como nación. Serie: Los grandes problemas de México. Vol. XIII Políticas públicas, está dividido en cuatro partes, que abordan desde diversos ángulos la naturaleza y capacidad del Estado mexicano para formular e implementar las políticas públicas. La primera trata aspectos del marco institucional de las políticas públicas, como las relaciones entre el Ejecutivo y el Legislativo, la evolución del tamaño y naturaleza del Estado, la planeación y la evaluación. La segunda se enfoca en las políticas de modernización y el estado general de la administración pública federal centralizada. La tercera incluye capítulos sobre algunas organizaciones y políticas en ámbitos nacionales distintos a la burocracia central, esto es, la administración pública federal descentralizada y la sociedad civil. La cuarta y última se refiere al estado de la relación entre las esferas federal, estatal y local y su impacto en las políticas públicas.

The Regional Seminar on Local Governments and Indigenous Peoples was organized because of the common interest and joint effort by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Mexico, the UNDP Democratic Governance Practice Area of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, the UNDP Regional Service Centre in Panama and UNDP's Bureau for Development Policies (BDP/DGG). The objective was to make better known the various initiatives in the region on issues concerning local governments and indigenous peoples. The seminar offered an opportunity to know, share and systematize lessons learned, progress made, obstacles encountered, and initiatives proposed in the region. In Latin America reflection about democracy and local governance has a central place. This is a key reason to strengthen channels for reflection and provide spaces where different local realities can be discussed. Doing so will give more elements to tackle the region's historic challenges in national settings that are marked by a distancing between citizens and politics and its actors. It will also enable us to confront the emergence or intensification of social phenomena that impede human development due to marginalization, inequality, discrimination, insecurity and increasing violence.