Localautonomy as a Meaningful Analytic Concept

Local autonomy is a common term in urban politics, but it has a variety of meanings, some quite ambiguous. A conceptually meaningful definition of local autonomy is constructed and then used to compare local government systems in the United States and the United Kingdom. Local autonomy is the ability of local governments to have an independent impact on the well-being of their citizens. We examine the nonlocal government determinants of well-being in both countries and ask what scope remains for local governments to have an impact. We also examine the constraints on local governments that limit their potential for affecting well-being and discuss the extent of local government autonomy in each country.