Strategy For Structures: Lessons In Community & Regional Economic Development

Abstract

The current distribution of power between local, regional, and national governments often runs contrary to common sense as well as economic reality. There is no cut-and-dried solution. But research into recent experience in the North Atlantic Rim clarifies the capacity that must be cultivated at the local level so that a sensible and effective devolution of authority can proceed. Greenwood’s simple but effective representation of how power, authority, and resources are distributed between the federal, provincial and local levels in Canada represents a thoughtful and powerful judgment of how the system works against the harnessing of local knowledge and capacity so crucial to development in the modern economy. Comparing the results of the research this article reports with others in this section (Lewis, 1994; O'Regan and Conway, 1994; Lewis, 2000; Greenwood, 2000) reveals a fascinating convergence of conclusions as well as serving to enrich the texture and nuanced understanding to be gleaned from a careful reading of this cluster of contributors.