<Book review> The reform and ‘decentralization and local self government rights’

ニュージーランドの地方自治事情. 東京都議会議会局調査部国際課, 1998, 136p. の書評I reviewed : Japan Australia New Zealand Society, INC (ed), 1998 ; 「ニュージーランドの地方自治事情(A Report of Local Government in New Zealand)」 ; Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly (Tokyo). Recently, the administrative and financial reform in New Zealand has greatly been taken up by Japanese mass-communications, local governments and so on. There are, however, few systematic books concerning New Zealand local government in Japan. We now need real learning knowledge of it. In this context, this book will much contribute for us to understand it. While centering case studies of Christchurch City Council and Canterbury Regional Council, the authors examined significance, problems and possibilities of local government in New Zealand. All of them are members of the Japan Society for New Zealand Studies and have got long experiences for the studies. Chapter 1 titles ‘Politic and Society in New Zealand’ is in charge of Professor KOMATSU Ryuji, Keio University, and Chapter 2 titled ‘The Administrative and Financial Reform in New Zealand’ is in charge of is Professor TAKAHASHI Yasumasa, Gunma University. In these chapters are examined history and present state of the high welfare society and meanings of the reform, while referring to them as backgrounds of local government in New Zealand. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 are titled ‘History of Local Government in New Zealand’, ‘General Remarks of Local Government in New Zealand’ and ‘Case Studies of Christchurch City Council and Canterbury Regional Council’ in order. These Chapters are in charge of Ms WADA Akiko, a young and energetic New Zealand researcher, Victoria University. Many of these are results of her field works in New Zealand and so are fresh and realistic. I believe that this book will be positioned as a leading one of the recent New Zealand local government studies in Japan, in particular in fact that we have few books on it. I happily learned evolutions of decentralization and local self government in the New Zealand reform through this book. It will be also useful of Japanese local government studies and promotion of the present going-on Japanese administrative and financial reform