Literature Review
Foundations and Governance Frameworks – Chapter 2: Part 1:
2.1 Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the academic and institutional literature relevant to the governance architecture of local government in Western Australia. The review is organised around the major conceptual domains that underpin this thesis: governance theory, systems theory, institutional design, accountability and oversight, transparency, community participation, and governance language. Together, these bodies of literature provide the theoretical foundation for analysing the structural design of the local government system.
A consistent theme emerges across the literature: while there is extensive research on behavioural, administrative, and organisational aspects of local government, we could not find any comprehensive mapping of the governance architecture itself. This absence mirrors the central paradox identified in Chapter 1: the legislation presumes a coherent system, yet neither the literature nor the institutional environment provides one. This paradox frames the need for a structural analysis of the system, which this thesis undertakes in subsequent chapters.
2.2 Governance Literature
2.2.1 Behavioural Governance
The dominant strand of local government scholarship focuses on behavioural governance: leadership, culture, conduct, and interpersonal dynamics. This literature emphasises the role of councillor capability, organisational culture, and political behaviour in shaping governance outcomes (Grant & Drew, 2017; Schein, 2017). Studies highlight issues such as conflict, poor decision-making, and dysfunctional relationships as key contributors to local government failure.
While valuable, this behavioural focus has limitations. It treats governance problems as matters of personality, capability, or culture, rather than as symptoms of structural design. As Bevir (2013) and Rhodes (2017) argue, behavioural explanations often obscure the institutional and systemic conditions that shape behaviour in the first place. In Western Australia, this behavioural framing has dominated reform efforts, leading to interventions such as training, conduct panels, and leadership programs—none of which address the underlying architecture.
2.2.2 Structural Governance and the Corporate Void
Structural governance literature examines the institutional arrangements, roles, responsibilities, and oversight mechanisms that constitute a governance system. Scholars such as Peters (2019), Christensen and Lægreid (2020), and Kettl (2015) emphasise that governance performance depends on the coherence of these structural components. Clear institutional design, predictable oversight, and defined accountability pathways are essential for system stability and legitimacy.
This literature is highly relevant to local government, yet it has rarely been applied to the local government context in Western Australia. Studies tend to focus on national or state-level governance, leaving local government undertheorised from a structural perspective. This gap reinforces the need for a system-level architectural analysis.
A significant omission within the structural governance literature of Western Australian local government is the lack of comparative alignment with Australian corporations’ law (e.g., Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)). In the corporate sphere, structural governance relies heavily on codified, unalterable roles separating Non-Executive Directors (the board) from Executive Management (the CEO).
By contrast, the local government sector operates in a structural vacuum where these lines are blurred, frequently allowing administrative staff to usurp the strategic authority of elected boards. Incorporating corporate law principles—such as the Business Judgement Rule (Section 180(2)) or strict, personal statutory liabilities for individual officers—presents an unexamined mechanism in the literature for piercing the administrative “operational shield” and fixing systemic governance imbalances.
2.2.3 The Paradox in the Governance Literature
A striking paradox emerges when comparing the behavioural and structural strands of governance literature: the behavioural literature assumes the existence of a coherent governance system, while the structural literature shows that such coherence cannot be assumed. This mirrors the paradox identified in Chapter 1: the Local Government Act 1995 (WA) presumes a functioning architecture, yet neither the literature nor the institutional environment provides one.
This paradox is central to the thesis. It explains why behavioural reforms have repeatedly failed: they attempt to correct symptoms without addressing the structural conditions that produce them.
Context, Chapter 1 – Design & Accountability, Chapter 2 Part 2