本論文比較高雄市議會與洛杉磯市議會在民主治理之功能。從市議會之定位、議員產生之方式、市議會組織結構、市議會職權、地方行政機關與立法機關關係、議會運作方式，比較其在地方治理各有何優勢、劣勢、機會、挑戰，以作為我國地方自治制度改進參考。 本研究發現洛杉磯市議會較有地方治理功能。因為議員的選舉制度採單一選區，較具責任性。而高雄市議員選舉是採大選區制，議員可以豁稀泥，可以偏激;且洛杉磯市議會對行政首長的任命有同意權，可以事先過濾不稱職的行政首長;而高雄市議會則無此權力，以牽制高雄市長任用不稱職的人員。

This study aims to compare the local governance of current Kaohsiung and Los Angeles City Councils with documental analysis from the city council positioning, the way of generating council members, the city council organizational structure and functions, the relations between city administrative and legislative body, the operation mode, to evaluate their strength, weakness, opportunities and threat in local governance. This study finds that the local governance of Los Angles City is better than that of Kaohiung City; because Los Angles City Council has the approval power for the appointment and removal of its government commissioners to monitor the executive qualities, and the council member election system in Los Angles (single-member district system) is better than that in Kaohiung (multi-member district system).