The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe

by John Loughlin (Editor), Frank Hendriks (Editor), Anders Lidström (Editor)

Overview

The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe analyses the state of play of democracy at the subnational level in the 27 member states of the EU plus Norway and Switzerland. It places subnational democracy in the context of the distinctive Anglo, the French, the German and Scandinavian state traditions in Europe asking to what extent these are still relevant today. The Handbook adapts Lijphart's theory of democracy and applies it to the subnational levels in all the country chapters. A key theoretical issue is whether subnational (regional and local) democracy is derived from national democracy or whether it is legitimate in its own right. Besides these theoretical concerns it focuses on the practice of democracy: the roles of political parties and interest groups and also how subnational political institutions relate to the ordinary citizen. This can take the form of local referendums or other mechanisms of participation. The Handbook reveals a wide variety of practices across Europe in this regard. Local financial systems also reveal a great variety. Finally, each chapter examines the challenges facing subnational democracy but also the opportunities available to them to enhance their democratic systems. Among the challenges identified are: Europeanization, globalization, but also citizens disaffection and switch-off from politics. Some countries have confronted these challenges more successfully than others but all countries face them. An important aspect of the Handbook is the inclusion of all the countries of East and Central Europe plus Cyprus and Malta, who joined the EU in 2004 and 2007. This is the first time they have been examined alongside the countries of Western Europe from the angle of subnational democracy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191628245
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	11/08/2012
Series:	Oxford Handbooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

John Loughlin is Professor of European Politics at Cardiff University. He also holds Visiting positions at Oxford, Cambridge, Umeå University, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques Aix-en-Provence as well as numerous other appointments. He is author and editor of over twenty books and numerous articles and book chapters on European territorial governance. He is an expert of the Council of Europe's Committee of Independent Experts on Regional and Local Democracy and chaired the Advisory Committee of Experts on Effective Decentralization of UN-Habitat. He has acted as advisor on territorial governance to the European Union, the UK government and other agencies. In 2009 he was invited by the French Senate to contribute to its reflections on reform of French subnational government. Frank Hendriks is Professor of Comparative Governance at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He deals with cross-border comparison of policies and governance systems, including the comparative analysis of democratic and decisionmaking models at the national and the subnational level. He has conducted extensive research, partly commissioned by public bodies, on governance and democracy at the local, regional, national and European level. He is member of various (international) research networks and editorial boards. He has published in international journals such as Public Administration; Democratization; International Journal of Public Administration; Innovation; Local Government Studies; Administrative Theory and Praxis; GeoJournal; Dutch Crossing; Verwaltungsarchiv; Journal of Crises and Contingencies, International Review of Administrative Sciences. Anders Lidström is Professor of Politics, University of Umeå, Sweden. His reseach focuses on local politics and government, comparative politics, and education policy. This includes studies of local democracy and self-government, both within Sweden and in a comparative perspective. Current research includes comparative studies of local government systems, and studies of democracy and political participation in city-regions. He has also carried out research on education policy, with a particular focus on how this is shaped at the local level.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Part I The British Isles
• 1: Peter John and Colin Copus: The United Kingdom: Is There Really an Anglo Model?
• 2: John Loughlin: Ireland: Halting Steps Towards Local Democracy
• Part II The Rhinelandic States
• 3: Ellen Wayenberg, Filip De Rynck, Kristof Steyvers, Jean-Benoît Pilet: Belgium: a Tale of Regional Divergence?
• 4: Frank Hendriks and Linze Schaap: The Netherlands: Subnational Democracy and the Reinvention of Tradition
• 5: Patrick Dumont, Philippe Poirier, and Raphael Kies: Luxembourg: The Challenge of Inclusive Democracy in a 'Local State'
• 6: Arthur Benz and Christina Zimmer: Germany: Varieties of Democracy in a Federal System
• 7: Franz Fallend: Austria: From Consensus to Competition and Participation?
• 8: Andreas Ladner: Switzerland: Subsidiarity, Power-sharing, and Direct Democracy
• Part III The Nordic States
• 9: Jens Blom-Hansen and Anne Heeager: Denmark: Between Local Democracy and Implementing Agency of the Welfare State
• 10: Stefan Sjöblom: Finland: The Limits of the Unitary Decentralized Model
• 11: Anders Lidström: Sweden: Party Dominated Sub-national Democracy under Challenge?
• 12: Harald Baldersheim and Lawrence E. Rose: Norway: The Decline of Subnational Democracy?
• Part IV The Southern European States
• 13: Alistair Cole: France: Between Centralization and Fragmentation
• 14: Simona Piattoni and Marco Brunazzo: Italy: The Subnational Dimension to Strengthening Democracy since the 1990s
• 15: César Colino and Eloísa del Pino: Spain: The Consolidation of Strong Regional Governments and the Limits of Local Decentralization
• 16: José M. Magone: Portugal: Local Democracy in a Small Centralized Republic
• 17: Nikos Hlepas and Panos Getimis: Greece: A Case of Fragmented Centralism and 'Behind the Scenes' Localism
• 18: Henry Frendo: Malta: Local Government: A Slowly Maturing Process
• 19: Andrekos Varnava and Christalla Yakinthou: Cyprus: Political Modernity and the Structures of Democracy in a Divided Island
• Part V The New Democracies
• The Visegrád States
• 20: Pawel Swianiewicz: Poland: Europeanization of Sub-National Governments
• 21: Michal Illner: The Czech Republic: Local Government in the Years After the Reform
• 22: Gábor Soós and László Kákai: Hungary: Remarkable Successes and Costly Failures: An Evaluation of Subnational Democracy
• 23: Sona Capková: Slovakia: Local Government: Establishing Democracy at the Grassroots
• The Baltic States
• 24: Georg Sootla and Kersten Kattai: Estonia: Challenges and Lessons of the Development of Local Autonomy
• 25: Inga Vilka: Latvia: Experiments and Reforms in Decentralization
• 26: Jolanta Vaiciuniene and Saulius Nefas: Lithuania: Brave Enough to Implement Daring Democratic Reforms?
• The Balkan States
• 27: Stanka Setnikar-Canka: Slovenia in Transition: Decentralization as a Goal
• 28: Pavlina Nikolova: Bulgaria: The Dawn of a New Era of Inclusive Subnational Democracy?
• 29: Ana Maria Dobre: Romania: From Historical Regions to Local Decentralization via the Unitary State
• Part VI Conclusions
• 30: Frank Hendriks, John Loughlin, and Anders Lidström: European Subnational Democracy: Comparative Reflections and Conclusions
• Appendix 1 Structure of Sub-National Governments in Europe (2007)
• Appendix 2 Sub-national Finances in Europe
• Appendix 3 Trust, Importance of Local/Regional Government, and Levels of Corruption in Europe
• Index

Editorial Reviews

"A high-quality team of experts on the different member-countries have produced thorough, clear and well-documented surveys of the state of territorial politics within every state of the Union, and the collection is held together by strong editorial guidance and a lucid and incisive theoretical overview. Accessible to both specialists and readers with more general interests, this work is an essential reference for anyone interested in the changing patterns of the contemporary state."—David Hanley, Professor Emeritus of European Studies, Cardiff University, and Visiting Professor, Centre for European and International Studies, University of Portsmouth

"The impressive Handbook on local democracy in Europe is an invaluable source of precise data about 29 countries, but also makes strong claims about transnational trends and typologies. . . it also stresses the "hybrid" nature of most states now when seen from below. It makes a powerful case for understanding democracy and its transformation beyond the nation state by precisely reviewing the implementation of direct democracy instruments and forms of political participation. Territory strongly matters if we are to understand European democracies, the Handbook eloquently makes the point."—Patrick Le Galès, Research Professor of Politics and Sociology, Sciences Po/CNRS, Centre détudes européennes

From the Publisher