Moving from excellence models of local service delivery to benchmarking 'good local governance'

The article starts by giving an overview of the drivers for local government reforms in OECD countries since the 1980s. It then explores recent trends in local government and community reforms in the UK and Germany. In the following section, the authors analyse whether the current benchmarking methods and criteria set within conventional models of 'excellence' in local government still meet the current needs of local communities. We argue that the conventional local management models need to be widened to include 'local governance' aspects. The article identifies criteria for a new 'local governance' model that takes into account the needs of local communities in the 21st century. Finally, the authors consider some possible uses of and limits to the proposed approach.