The focus on the conception of the degree course in Local Government and Administration is caused by the context of a changing process in which local governments are involved, faced not only with new social demands, but also with problems of increasing complexity, to which they have difficulty to respond in an appropriate way. This difficulty of response lies less in the problems and more in endogenous characteristics of Local Government, traditionally marked by bureaucratic processes of centralization and sectorial organization that neutralize them to respond effectively to their new missions.

This degree, unique in the country, aims to prepare graduates with a solid background in management and an integrated and comprehensive view of the activities of municipal organizations.