September 28, 2026
We're happy to show you a new paper by SCARP Associate Professor Mike Hooper in Sage Journals, a timely unpacking of urban local government, with Bermuda as an active example.
What Is the Value of Urban Local Government?
Perspectives on Scales of Governance, Efficiency, and Local Autonomy From Bermuda's Effort to Abolish Municipal Elections
by SCARP Associate Professor Mike Hooper
Debates over decentralization are some of the most contentious in urban politics.
While a consensus favouring greater decentralization appeared to emerge in the late 20th century, centralizing tendencies are again on the rise. This has been observed in many contexts in both the Global South and North, including in British Columbia. But the resurgence of centralization is perhaps most apparent in Bermuda, where recent efforts have been made to entirely abolish municipal elected representation.
This article examines Bermuda’s Municipalities Reform Bill 2019, which placed democratic local governance in the balance and called into question the triumphalist narrative that had held up decentralization as the natural victor in debates over scalar governance.
The study's results show low enthusiasm for Bermuda’s proposed changes to urban governance. The interviews reveal four dominant themes, each centered on critical differences of opinion between supporters and opponents of the reform bill. These differences relate to understandings of “efficiency,” the value of local autonomy, how best to respond to inequalities in governance, and whether incremental revisions to democratic institutions are preferable to more sweeping change.
The case also provides a window onto progressive centralization efforts. As with moves towards greater centralization in other places, like British Columbia, the Bermuda case draws attention to the growing advocacy for centralization by progressive politicians and governments. Ultimately, it shows how efforts towards centralization are on the rise and how these efforts may be led by, on first glance, surprising actors. It also highlights that the late 20th century equilibrium favouring local democratic governance is less stable than many assumed and that the values at the heart of urban democracy – including citizen participation, independent local institutions and deliberation – will have to be actively nurtured if they are to be sustained in the face of growing arguments that they are “inefficient.”
About Mike Hooper
Michael Hooper's research focuses on urban planning, policy, and politics, with particular interest in three themes related to urban spatial transformation: displacement, disasters and densification. Across these topics he has a strong cross-cutting interest in public participation, governance and organizations.