can be made close to the citizenry and advantage taken of that closeness––to
ensure that decisions respond to the preferences of the population––and that
evaluation of the results of decisions involves the population. Citizen input
can be included as a service program is being developed by administrative
agencies, and it can be included through hearings conducted while legislation
to enact those programs is deliberated. These inputs are much simpler for
local governments to obtain than for regional or national governments, so
local governments offer the best hope for direct citizen participation in the
fiscal process. The participation of the citizenry in local fiscal decisions and
their implementation is critical to improving the allocation of public
resources and to increasing responsiveness to local citizens’ concerns.
Special Fiscal Advantages of Local Government
The fiscal promise of local government reflects the several advantages of
devolution of responsibility to governments closer to the population: improved
delivery of services through greater citizen input, greater responsiveness in
government action, and better accountability to the citizenry for public service
outcomes.Local fiscal administration,implementing the policies and programs
of local governments with devolved political powers, can provide a number of
specific fiscal advantages. Some of these merit particular attention here.1