This paper discusses the role of the ombudsman, including ombudsman-like institutions such as the contractor-general and parliamentary commissioner, in local public administration. The authors argue that because local government is often regarded as inefficient and costly, it does not compete very effectively for the allocation of public financing. Nevertheless, local government institutions exist not to deliver parochial public services, but they also to broaden the democratic and participatory processes in government. The decline in local government has significant implications for democracy in a state, and where local government institutions fail then others, such the ombudsman, will have to be employed to give voice to issues that could not otherwise be articulated. The ombudsman therefore has an important supportive and participatory role in local government.