including equalization of service delivery and a better bargaining position for Toronto at the provincial and national level.

Mandated by 1988 legislation, the two types of rural councils in Zimbabwe were amalgamated into 57 Rural District Councils in 1993.<sup>3</sup> The reform was undertaken in the context of decentralization, as the Rural District Councils were to take on additional responsibilities not already assigned to the local level. Roe (1995: 833) uses the thoughts of program implementers to define another objective; “...the initiative is much more about reforming local government in a way that promotes economic development at the district level by capitalizing on the scarce administrative and technical skills within the local authority.” Zimbabwe presents an interesting case from the perspective of public choice as the two different types of rural councils represent vastly different populations with varying needs and resources. The rural councils represented primarily white, commercial farming interests. Rural councils were also permitted to levy property taxes and provide local services. The district councils represented predominantly black, communal interests. District councils did not collect their own revenues and most local services were provided by central government agencies. Amalgamation of the two diverse authorities presented opportunities for sharing scarce skills and resources and for providing more equal levels of services between commercial and communal areas.

In order to provide the new districts with the tools necessary for success, the Rural District Councils Capacity Building Programme (RDCCBP) was established to facilitate institutional, human resource and capital development. With a well-established set of goals and a “learning by doing” philosophy the RDCCBP operated from 1996-2001 and “was largely successful in meeting the set objectives.” (Musekiwa, 1996: 12) In spite of the success, recent political and economic problems experienced by Zimbabwe have placed added strain on the local districts leaving “most local authorities...on the verge of bankruptcy.” (Musekiwa, 1996: 12) A Presidential Decree to consolidate local governments in Sudan was issued in 2003, but it was never approved by Parliament. The number of municipalities in northern Sudan was to be reduced from 309 to 80. The goals were similar to those in Zimbabwe. Providing services more evenly by combining urban areas with the surrounding rural areas was one of the expectations. Also, 105 municipal responsibilities were articulated in the Decree, though none are listed directly in the Constitution. The new list could lead to additional municipal functions. Limited cost savings were anticipated from the consolidation because many of the existing local councils would have been eliminated with the hope of saving the expenses from operating the councils.

Jordan consolidated governments in 2001 and reduced the number of municipalities from 328 to 99 plus Greater Amman. Cost containment was a key factor in the decisions to amalgamate governments. Municipal expenditures had been rising very rapidly, leaving a number of municipalities unable to meet some of their expenditures, including their payrolls. The lack of a hard budget constraint was allowing the number of local employees to proliferate. The national government provides most of the funding 3 World Bank http://www.worldbank.org.zw/rdccbp1.pdf 6