Local Government in California

Local Government in California by John C. Bollens and Stanley Scott is a landmark study of California’s municipal, county, and special district systems at mid-century. Drawing on research conducted at UC Berkeley’s Bureau of Public Administration, the authors provide a comprehensive survey of local organizational structures, administrative responsibilities, and the financial underpinnings of government at the substate level. The book examines how home rule, planning, and professional management were reshaping city and county governments, and highlights the growing importance of special-purpose districts in providing services to rapidly urbanizing areas.

With close attention to functions, costs, and revenue sources, Bollens and Scott illuminate the strengths and persistent challenges of local governance—from annexation and metropolitan coordination to the problem of unincorporated areas. The volume remains a crucial historical record of California’s governmental evolution in an era of explosive population growth and institutional innovation, offering scholars and practitioners alike insights into the balance between local autonomy and state authority, and into the practical dilemmas of building responsive, efficient public institutions.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1951.