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Public Administration vocabulary · Local Government

Local government

Meaning in public administration, with examples

nounCore term

In public administration, local government means: The system of elected councils and their administrations that run services for a city, town or region, such as waste collection, local roads and parks.

In Turkish: yerel yönetim, mahalli idare

How it is used

Used for the level of government below the national one, and for the bodies themselves. In British English a single body is a local authority or simply the council. Common phrases: local government finance, local government reform, local government elections.

Example sentences

  1. Most of the services people use every day are delivered by local government.

  2. She spent fifteen years in local government before moving to the ministry.

Common collocations

  • local government reform
  • local government finance
  • work in local government
  • tier of local government
  • municipalityA city or town that has its own local government, or that local government body itself, with duties such as water supply, waste, local roads and building permits.
  • councilA group of elected or appointed people who make decisions for an area or organization, especially the elected body that governs a city, town or district.
  • decentralizationThe transfer of powers, responsibilities and resources from central government to regional or local bodies, so that decisions are made closer to the people affected.
  • central governmentThe national level of government, including the ministries and agencies based in the capital, as opposed to regional and local authorities.
  • mayorThe person who leads a city or town's local government; depending on the country, a mayor may be directly elected, chosen by the council or hold a mainly ceremonial role.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Local Government

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