The Commonwealth e-Journal of Local Governance journal is co-auspiced by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (UK) and the UTS Centre for Local Government (University of Technology, Sydney, Australia). The Journal is supported by the Commonwealth Secretariat. It is published on the UTS E-Press website.
The Journal is part of a broader initiative stemming from the 2007 Commonwealth Local Government Conference to strengthen the role and contribution of CLGF's Associate Members (universities and training institutes) in providing research and policy support to CLGF programs, and in promoting research into local governance across the Commonwealth. An e-Journal was seen as a good vehicle to bring together perspectives of both researchers and practitioners from Commonwealth countries, and to disseminate information, ideas and practice as widely as possible.
The Journal's editorial priorities and themes are the result of these deliberations. It will focus on two main themes:
Improving local governance
Local government as an agent of development
Sub-themes may include (but are not limited to):
Concepts of local democracy, citizenship and community participation/empowerment
Strategic leadership and planning
Traditional leadership and local government
Improving local governance (better systems, efficiency, effectiveness, ethics etc)
Decentralisation and re-centralisation
Municipal finance and capacity (including aid management)
Global issues and local government: climate change, health, economic transformation, urbanisation etc
Social inclusion (including gender equity and poverty alleviation)
Performance measurement and management
Inter-government relations.
To meet its objectives, the journal will include a mix of formal research papers, practice notes and other contributions. It is divided into four sections:
Research and Evaluation: peer-reviewed research papers, typically 6-8000 words
Commentary: shorter scholarly pieces that put forward a particular viewpoint on an area of research or practice
Practice: articles describing current practices in local governance and development
News and Reviews: short notes on current or forthcoming events, and book reviews.
In addition, the journal may publish special articles or background papers to provide in-depth information on a particular aspect of local governance or development in the Commonwealth.
The Journal will be published bi-annually in May and November. Information for authors is available at: http://www.clg.uts.edu.au/CJLG/index.html