Towards a more globally inclusive academic discussion on local government: is more attention to Asian countries the answer?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Asian countries’ growing importance in global affairs contrasts with the scant scholarly focus on their political, administrative, and governance practices. Our review of Local Government Studies from 1975 to 2024 shows limited articles on Asian governance. In addition, these studies chiefly concern developed regions in Asia, such as China, Japan, and South Korea, and focus on the public sector at the local government layer. Most of these studies are explanatory, adopting the frameworks derived from Western democracies to analyze political and administrative practices in Asian contexts. We suggest authors should pay more attention to Asian countries with limited scholarly attention, establish frameworks and theories specifically to analyze political and administrative practices in Asian contexts, conduct studies to investigate issues with high complexities and uncertainties, and apply diverse new and innovative research methods in conducting empirical studies.