10459 Introduction to Local Government

Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Political Science or in Management or in Public Policy

Prerequisites: none

Recommended: Government and Politics in Israel

Authors: Dan Soen, Nezer Menuhin, Gedalia Auerbach, Perla Eisenkang-Kane, Avraham Shafat, Shmuel Shafat, Eliahu Borukhov

The course acquaints students with the central issues of local government in Israel from an inter-disciplinary perspective through an examination of various theories and a comparison with other countries. It analyzes the development of local government, including its institutional-structural and its political-behavioral aspects. It adopts a broad comparative approach in examining the roots of the emergence of local government in Israel and in the world; analyzes the economic, legal, political and social aspects of local government; its organizational structure and administrative processes; how local government copes with its varied goals; and the complex relationship between local and central government.

Topics: The history of local government; Contemporary local government; The history of local government in Israel; Politics and local governance in Israel; Arab local government; Legal aspects of local government; Economics and local government; Administration aspects of local government; Community and welfare in local government; Local government in the rural sector; Basic concepts of city planning; Local government at the beginning of the 21st century.