Review of \u3ci\u3e Alberta\u27s Local Governments: Politics and Democracy\u3c/i\u3e by Jack Masson

The authors, of the University of Alberta, have presented here a lengthy examination of democracy and political practice in the province\u27s rural and urban communities, essentially from the 1880s to 1994. In addition to the communities themselves, the authors also examine the relations between municipalities and the provincial government, the growth of greater local self-government, representation and accountability, the territorial decentralization of municipal economic activity, and the recent transfer of the costs of local government from the province to municipalities