City governments are going bankrupt. Even the ones that aren't are often stuck in financial chaos. It is easy to blame pensions, poor leadership, or a bad economy. But the problems go much deeper. With decades of experience in local government, author Mark Moses showcases the inside world of the city decision-making process that has spawned these crises. It becomes clear: City governments are maxing out their budgets because they are trying to maximize services. This book, likely the most ambitious attempt by someone who has worked in government to radically examine the delivery of municipal services since 'Reinventing Government' was published more than 25 years ago, explores why city governments pursue an open-ended mission and why bailouts and trendy budgeting processes will be, at best, only temporary solutions. Of interest to current and future city council members, regional and state government officials, those covering city government, financial analysts, city management, and individuals and organizations interested in influencing city policy, this book argues that cities won't thrive until city hall is disrupted.

This book attends to the processes of water policy formulation and implementation in Ireland and Ghana, offering important insights into the ways in which public administrations operate in a developed and a developing country setting. Tenets of sustainability require nations to develop capacities to enable them strike a balance between harnessing environmental resources to improve the quality of life of their citizens; and adopting measures to guarantee environmental protection. Following the 'sustainability path', this book seeks to illuminate understanding of the complexities involved in policy formulation and implementation of water policy in Ireland and Ghana. It concludes that policy formulation has not facilitated implementation of water policy in both countries, largely because endeavours in this light have been externally driven by such organisations as the European Union, the World Bank the and International Monetary Fund. As a way forward, the book suggests the effective implementation of water policy through robust coordination of economic, political and administrative governance mechanisms in line with the national contexts and local realities of the countries studied.

Financing health-care has gone through a chequered history in Ghana. Like other developing nations in modern times, the Government of Ghana has no choice but to establish a sustainable health-care financing policy for all Ghanaians. The aim of this book is to examine whether the introduction of a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) will provide and deliver and improved health-care service in Ghana. The introduction of the NHIS is to help reduce the financial barriers which have denied ordinary people access to healthcare for decades. While the health system appears to be making progress in meeting the basic needs of the people of Ghana, the continuing exodus of trained health workers, lack of leadership, corruption and weak institutional capacity remains a major obstacle. There are also many persuasive reasons why the NHIS should be a success. Some of the laudable points are the philosophy of the NHIS, the popularity of the policy, the institutional components which are in place and the overall State commitment to the scheme.