Local governments in the developing world are currently facing serious and urgent problems. Poverty, failings of infrastructure, and the lack of human and financial resources have impacted negatively on€local governments' capacity to perform their mandated functions. This volume€draws attention to the€prescriptions of public administration theory, and their differential impact on different contexts, in different parts of the world.€It challenges existing perspectives on local governance, that either overemphasize the€universality of solutions to local government problems, or segregate solutions, isolating them as relative or transitional -€often reaching no solution at all. The authors gathered here€argue that, whilst there is no one-size-fits-all solution, solutions for specific problems in local governance can undoubtedly be found.