Fatima Jinnah Women University

Department of Public Administration

Local Government and Rural Development

For Bachelor/Master Students (3 Credit Hours)

I. Course Descriptions

This course aims at introducing students to the concept of local self-government in the political
system of Pakistan. The strengthening of the local governments have taken place under military rule,
and therefore, the phenomenon needs to be understood in the context of military rule, provincial
governments and their powers and the nature of Pakistans distribution of political power
The form of this course is to study rural society in Pakistan with reference to sociological concepts.
These concepts will be taught to the students as a prelude to the understanding of rural life. The
following concepts will be given attention so that they may be applied to the study of rural life in
Pakistan Study of local government in relation to economic and social development of rural areas.
Includes organization, management and finance of local rural government; relationships between
levels of government and alternatives to local autonomy.
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II. Course Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to;
1. explain the concepts, principles, and policies of local government;

2. recite the declared policy of the state on local government; identify the application of
the Code; and enumerate the rules of interpretation of the Code;

3. explain the history, structure, management, and finance of local governments;

4. state the general and specific requirements for the creation, division, merger, abolition
or substantial alteration of boundaries of local government units, and identify the
procedure for the creation of local government units;

5. explain the nature and role as well as identify the offices and officials of local
government units;

6. identify ways of making local government self-reliant communities;

7. state the role of local government in the economic and social development of rural
areas;

8. enumerate the qualifications, define the term of office of elective local government
officials, and identify the disciplinary actions that may be taken against them;
9. discuss the procedure in the conduct of recall elections;

10. explain the legislative process and the systems of local initiative and referendum;

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 11. identify the financial resources of local authorities and enumerate the existing
revenue and income sources of local governments;

12. discuss the credit financing schemes available to local governments to support local
development;
13. outline the role of local government units in the development of rural areas and
discuss the implications of decentralization on rural development; and

14. explain the role of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in local
governance.

III. Readings:
Chambers, R. (2014). Rural development: Putting the last first. Routledge.
Clark, W. C., Tomich, T. P., Van Noordwijk, M., Guston, D., Catacutan, D., Dickson, N.
M., & McNie, E. (2016). Boundary work for sustainable development: natural resource
management at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(17), 4615-4622.
Fabricius, C., Koch, E., Turner, S., & Magome, H. (Eds.). (2013). Rights resources and
rural development: Community-based natural resource management in Southern Africa.
Routledge.
Glover, D., & Kusterer, K. (2016). Small farmers, big business: contract farming and
rural development. Springer.
Phillips, R., & Pittman, R. (Eds.). (2014). An introduction to community development.
Routledge.
Pierre, J. (Ed.). (2016). Partnerships in urban governance: European and American
experiences. Springer.

IV. .Grading Criteria

Class Participation
Quizzes/assignments
Project/ Research paper
Mid-term
Final term

V. Statement on Faculty and Student Code of Ethics

The Code of Ethics sets the parameters for proper conduct in the classroom by both faculty and students.
This is basic but it underscores the main principle here that we will follow as a team: The faculty member
will do his best to provide the best teaching and learning environment for each student as an individual
and for the class as a whole. Students will be fairly evaluated in all their work and the contributions they
make to enhance the objectives of the course. Students, on the other hand, will be responsible for their
own work-product, will provide proper documentation when they use the work of others as references,
and will respect the rights of others to contribute to the teaching/learning environment as best suits their
comfort level, the capabilities, and their motivations.

Topics to be covered
Topics
Local Government Concepts and Basic Principles Underlying the Local Government Code
1.1. Political law
1.2. Public and private corporations
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1.3. Municipal corporations and local governments
1.4. Local autonomy and decentralization
1.5. De jure and de facto local governments
1.6. Public and proprietary nature of local governments
Policies Underlying the Local Government Code
2.1. Policies underlying the Local Government Code
2.2. Laws governing local governments

Note: Final Reports must be checked in the plagiarism detect software like TURNITIN.COM Papers
without the report will result in deduction of 3 points.

The final presentation is due in the last 3 weeks of the class. Students will present their projects using MS
Power Point for their presentations/or any other tool / technique to convince the audience (it is strongly
advised that all tools should be tested well before the class presentation to avoid unnecessary delay due to
tech issues). Each student will be given 10-15 minutes to complete their presentation and 5 minutes for
the class to ask questions about the presentation. Presentation sessions may be little longer than the usual
class time. If we are not able to complete all the presentations within the scheduled classes, extra classes
will be arranged.

Written report must follow following format: MS WORD, 12 FONT SIZE TIMES NEW ROMAN, 1.5
LINE SPACE WITH PLAGIARISM REPORT AT THE END IN THE APPENDICES.

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