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\"Created by social movement activists and left-wing parties during years of austerity, Barcelona en Comâu, or the Comuns (as they are known in Catalan), won control of the city council of Barcelona in May 2015. The ensuing municipal government gave the city its first ever female mayor in the form of former housing rights campaigner Ada Colau. The Comuns administration proceeded to undertake ambitious initiatives, attempting to regenerate democracy by changing the relationship between municipal authority and citizen, addressing social inequality issues and seeking to curb the hitherto unbridled tourist expansion in the name of improving the environment for those who live in the Catalan capital. This book examines the extent to which the political project of the Comuns has brought radical change in Barcelona, where it has faced opposition from revolutionary anti-capitalists, traditional Catalan nationalists and independentistas, as well as conservative political and economic forces. It also considers the Comuns' relationship to Podemos and their prospects of growing beyond the city, in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and across Catalonia\"-- Provided by publisher.

Property tax autonomy of the Czech municipalities is quite narrow and to great extent unused. Perceived political costs of its usage are high and only 8% of municipalities utilized the possibility to increase the tax rates through so called local coefficient. Using the binary logit model and a full sample and two subsamples of Czech municipalities in 2014 the existence of tax mimicking is confirmed regardless the subsample of municipalities considered or the definition of neighbors applied. The likelihood to increase the local coefficient is to some extent influenced by the composition of the municipal council and local demographic, geographic and fiscal situation. However, the overall capacity of the model to indicate municipalities which apply local coefficient is low and suggests that there are many other or different situations or factors which result in application of local coefficient.

Rights and responsibilities of local governments are defined by the central legislature, in accordance with the given country’s rules, traditions, institutions of constitutional and administrative law. To perform public duties they need financial resources, incomes and wealth. Above these, the right of disposition, financial and economic autonomy have to be provided, moreover, the possibility to receive suitable subsidies from central budget. The proportion and guarantees of the income are important too, as the autonomy of local governments depending from central subsidies may be injured. The question of primary importance is that where are the limits of the mentioned autonomy, protected by various constitutional provisions and international legal documents, how the legislature is able to control the law of taxation, to enter transactions that give rise to debts, or how to withdraw different resources from local governments. The central withdrawal and reallocation of resources may raise the issue of local government solidarity. As well as the extent to which the property and income of local governments can be limited. According to the practice of the various constitutional courts and the supreme courts (American, French, German and Hungarian judicature), the rights and authorities of local governments are not unlimited. Although, local governments have to get effective protection, but after all it is the state who determines the content and the framework of relevant legal regulations for local governments. Therefore, within the constitutional framework, the central legislature has a serious opportunity to intervene in protected autonomy by withdrawing or reallocating revenues, assets or subsidies. The research method of the study is primarily financial and administrative legal analysis and legal comparison: in addition to international, constitutional and legal (American, German, French, Hungarian) rules, the basic characteristics of local government financial autonomy are presented based on the principles worked out in various Supreme Court and Constitutional Court decisions elements, as well as the limitations that said autonomy must face as a result of the decisions of the central legislature. The subject of the research is the financial autonomy of local governments and its legal limitations, which point out that autonomy - unfortunately, cannot be unlimited. Local taxation, own revenues and subsidies can indeed provide adequate foundations for independent local government management, however, since local governments must adapt in the state’s central system of public administration and public finances, therefore, within the constitutional framework, the central legislation can make decisions that adversely affect their incomes, budgets and assets.

Throughout the twentieth century, local control of school districts was one of the most contentious issues in American politics. As state and federal regulation attempted to standardize public schools, conservatives defended local prerogative as a bulwark of democratic values. Yet their commitment to those values was shifting and selective. InThe Fight for Local Control, Campbell F. Scribner demonstrates how, in the decades after World War II, suburban communities appropriated legacies of rural education to assert their political autonomy and in the process radically changed educational law. Scribner's account unfolds on the metropolitan fringe, where rapid suburbanization overlapped with the consolidation of thousands of small rural schools. Rural residents initially clashed with their new neighbors, but by the 1960s the groups had rallied to resist government oversight. What began as residual opposition to school consolidation would transform into campaigns against race-based busing, unionized teachers, tax equalization, and secular curriculum. In case after case, suburban conservatives carved out new rights for local autonomy, stifling equal educational opportunity. Yet Scribner also provides insight into why many conservatives have since abandoned localism for policies that stress school choice and federal accountability. In the 1970s, as new battles arose over unions, textbooks, and taxes, districts on the rural-suburban fringe became the first to assert individual choice in the form of school vouchers, religious exemptions, and a marketplace model of education. At the same time, they began to embrace tax limitation and standardized testing, policies that checked educational bureaucracy but bypassed local school boards. The effect, Scribner concludes, has been to reinforce inequalities between districts while weakening participatory government within them, keeping the worst aspects of local control in place while forfeiting its virtues.

Prava i odgovornosti lokalnih vlasti definira središnja zakonodavna vlast, u skladu s pravili- ma, tradicijom, institucijama ustavnog i upravnog prava određene zemlje. Za obavljanje javnih dužnosti potrebna su financijska sredstva, prihodi i bogatstvo. Povrh toga, potrebno je osig- urati pravo raspolaganja, financijsku i ekonomsku autonomiju, kao i mogućnost ostvarivanja subvencija iz državnog proračuna. Omjer i jamstvo prihoda također su važni jer autonomija lokalnih vlasti koja ovisi o središnjim subvencijama može biti upitna. Od primarne je važnosti utvrditi granice autonomije, zaštićene raznim ustavnim odredbama i međunarodnim pravnim dokumentima, kako zakonodavac može kontrolirati porezni zakon, ulaziti u transakcije koje stvaraju dugovanja ili kako ostvariti financiranje iz različitih izvora financiranja lokalnih vlasti. Središnje povlačenje i preraspodjela sredstava mogu potaknuti pitanje solidarnos- ti lokalnih vlasti. Nadalje, postavlja se i pitanje u kojoj se mjeri mogu ograničiti imovina i prihodi lokalnih samouprava. Praksa raznih ustavnih sudova i vrhovnih sudova (američko, francusko, njemačko i mađarsko pravosuđe) ukazuje da prava i ovlasti lokalnih samouprava nisu neograničene. Međutim, lokalne samouprave moraju pribaviti učinkovitu zaštitu, ali u konačnici država određuje sadržaj i okvir važećih pravnih propisa za lokalne samouprave. Sto- ga, unutar ustavnog okvira, središnje zakonodavno tijelo ima priliku intervenirati u zaštićenu autonomiju povlačenjem ili preraspodjelom prihoda, imovine ili subvencija. U istraživanju se primjenjuje metoda financijske i upravno-pravne analize i usporedba pra- va. Osim međunarodnih, ustavnih i zakonskih (američkih, njemačkih, francuskih, mađar- skih) propisa u radu se prikazuje i temeljne karakteristike financijske autonomije lokalne samouprave na temelju načela razrađenih u različitim elementima odluka Vrhovnog suda i Ustavnog suda, kao i ograničenja s kojima se navedena autonomija suočava kao rezultat odluka središnjeg zakonodavnog tijela. Predmet istraživanja je financijska autonomija jed- inica lokalne samouprave i njezina zakonska ograničenja koja ukazuju na to da autonomi- ja, nažalost, ne može biti neograničena. Lokalno oporezivanje, vlastiti prihodi i subvencije doista mogu pružiti odgovarajuće temelje za neovisno upravljanje lokalnom samoupravom. Međutim, budući da se lokalne samouprave moraju prilagoditi središnjem državnom sustavu javne uprave i javnih financija, središnje zakonodavstvo može donositi odluke koje nepovoljno utječu na njihove prihode, proračune i imovinu.

As the 21st Century world assumes an increasingly urban landscape, the question of how definitive urban spaces are to be governed intensifies. At the heart of this debate lies a question about the degree and type of autonomy that towns and cities might have in shaping their economic, environmental, social and cultural geography. This paper aims to examine this question. Starting with the premise that the degree of autonomy any particular town or city has is inherently an empirical question – one which can only be conceptualised in relational terms vis-á-vis the distributed, networked and territorialised responsibilities and powers of the city and the nation-state and other zones of connection – we examine four different contexts where debates over autonomy have intensified in recent history (Brazil, UK, India and South Africa). Drawing on recent respective histories, we identify key elements and enablers in the making of urban autonomy: a characteristic that exists in a variety of guises and forms and creates a patchwork landscape of differentially powerful fragments. We reveal how, beyond its characteristic as a political ideal, autonomy surfaces as a practice that emerges from within specific sectors of particular societies and through their relationship with national and regional politics. Four alternative forms of urban autonomy are delineated: fragmented, coerced (or enclave), distributed and networked. We contend that the spatial templates for autonomy are not predetermined but can be enhanced in multiple different sites and forms of political space within the city. This enhancement appears essential for the integration and strengthening of capacities for sustainable and just forms of development throughout the urban. 随着 21 世纪的世界日益城市化，如何治理明确的城市空间的问题日益突出。这一争论的核心是关于城镇在形塑自身经济、环境、社会和文化地理方面可具有的自治程度和类型的问题。本文旨在探讨这个问题。任何特定城镇的自治程度本质上都是一个经验问题，只能通过关系来理解，而无法通过城市、民族国家和其他人类聚合体的分布式、网络化和地域化责任和权力来理解。以此为前提，我们考察了巴西、英国、印度和南非这四个近年来对自治的争论激化的国家。我们参照这些国家近年来的历史，确定了城市自治的关键要素和推动力：一种以各种面貌和形式存在的特征，创造出了由各种强力碎片拼凑而成的格局。我们揭示，自治不但是一种政治理想，也表现为特定社会特定部门通过其与国家和地区政治的关系而从内部涌现出的一套实践方式。我们划定了城市自治的四种形式：碎片式、强制式（或飞地）、分布式和网络式。我们提出，自治的空间模式并不是预先确定的，但可以在城市内多个不同的地点和不同形式的政治空间中强化。这种强化对于整合和加强整个城市可持续公正发展的能力至关重要。

How do governments respond to multiple types of external pressures under limited resources? Are the effects of different types of diffusional pressures complementary or substitutive? This article approaches these questions by examining how top-down supports modify the effects of horizontal pressures on local innovation adoption. Top-down supports may complement or substitute the effects of horizontal pressures given the former's potential influence on perceived innovation advantage and visibility, organizational autonomy, and environmental uncertainty. The empirical analysis based on China's municipal-level one-stop governments (administrative licensing centers, or ALCs) from 1997 to 2012 shows that increases in central and provincial supportive policy signals reduce the effects of neighboring municipality adoption on a municipal government's creation of an ALC. Results affirm that the effects of different types of diffusional pressures can be conditional on one another—that is, increases in top-down policy supports may substitute the effects of horizontal pressures.

Advocates of citizen participation argue that a greater role for citizens in the budget process can help city governments undergoing fiscal retrenchment by improving budget choices and citizens' willingness to pay, among others. A contrary view suggests that citizens are free riders who want lower taxes but oppose service cuts. How has citizen input influenced the choice of fiscal retrenchment strategies in municipal governments during the Great Recession? The analysis shows that when it comes to budget cutting, participatory cities have a higher probability of adopting highly contentious strategies, including eliminating services and laying off workers compared with nonparticipatory cities. For raising revenues, participatory cities avoid increasing property taxes. Citizens' fiscal choices raise questions about the future of local autonomy and, ultimately, citizens' ability to influence policymaking in the evolving intergovernmental system.

This study offers a new framework for examining central–local government relations by distinguishing between two concepts that are usually combined: local autonomy and municipal activism. We define local or municipal autonomy as the legally defined powers and roles of local authorities, typically granted by law and state directives or reforms. Municipal activism consists of actions and decisions by local authorities that may challenge the formal boundaries of local autonomy, in a policy environment with certain attributes. This paper, using the example of Israel’s education system, examines how features of local autonomy as defined by law enhance and shape the emergence of municipal activism. We focus on the impact that incoherence and lack of clarity in legal guidance and directives may have on local policy actors’ decision making. The findings show that in uncertain and incoherent policy environments, local government tends toward municipal activism. However, the surprising findings challenge the prevailing assumptions regarding the connection between a municipality’s characteristics and its municipal activism. The findings can be applied to various policy domains, such as urban planning or sustainability policy, where the interplay between legal autonomy and municipal activism has become increasingly prevalent.

Municipal courts are the lowest and least scrutinized echelon of the U.S. criminal system. Largely ignored by judicial theorists, municipal governance scholarship, and criminal theory alike, these city-controlled courts operate on the intellectual sidelines; even basic public information about their dockets and operations is scarce. This Article brings municipal courts into the broader legal and scholarly conversation, offering the first comprehensive analysis of the enormous municipal court phenomenon. Nationwide, there are over 7,500 such courts in thirty states. Collectively they process over three and a half million criminal cases every year and collect at least two billion dollars in fines and fees. Created, funded, and controlled by local municipalities, these courts — sometimes referred to as “summary” or “justice” or “police” courts — are central to cities’ ability to police, to maintain public safety, and to raise revenue. At the same time, they often exhibit many of the dysfunctions for which lower courts have been generally criticized: cavalier speed, legal sloppiness, punitive harshness, and disrespectful treatment of defendants. Unlike their state counterparts, however, the U.S. Supreme Court has formally excused municipal courts from some basic legal constraints: judges need not be attorneys and may simultaneously serve as city mayors, while proceedings are often summary and not of record. These hybrid institutions thus pose thorny conceptual challenges: they are standalone judicial entities that are also arms of municipal government operating under reduced constitutional constraints as they mete out criminal convictions. As such, they create numerous tensions with modern norms of due process, judicial independence, and other traditional indicia of criminal court integrity. This Article provides a framework for appreciating the institutional complexity of this lowest tier of American criminal justice. Municipal courts deviate substantially from the classic model of courts as neutral, independent guardians of law. They are also vehicles for cities to express their political autonomy and redistribute wealth, and thus constitute underappreciated engines of local governance. As criminal adjudicators, they quietly contribute to localized mass incarceration while threatening the integrity of some foundational features of the criminal process. At the same time, they represent a potentially attractive opportunity to render criminal institutions more locally responsive. Finally, they reveal a deep dynamic at the bottom of the penal pyramid: low-status cases and institutions exert a formative influence over law itself. These complexities make reform especially challenging. There are doctrinal reforms that could strengthen municipal court operations, but they are inherently limited. The deeper reform would be to stop dismissing these courts as minor, inferior institutions and to take them and their millions of defendants seriously across the board of law, policy, and politics. Widely influential, jurisprudentially challenging, and democratically complicated, municipal courts deserve a more central place in the modern legal conversation.