The State of Local Governance research project is intended to produce a regular civil society-based assessment of the key challenges, debates and areas of progress with regard to governance and development at local level in South Africa, and to provide local government policy-makers and practitioners with practical recommendations to improve policy, guidelines, systems and interventions where necessary. The first (2008) report of the project, entitled "Local Democracy in Action: A Civil Society Perspective on Local Governance in South Africa" is now available