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A Modern Guide to National Urban Policies in Europe
Written in a clear and concise style, this Modern Guide provide a timely overview and comparison of urban challenges and national urban policies in 13 European countries, addressing key issues such as housing, urban regeneration and climate change. A team of international contributors explore the gap between the rise of international urban agendas and variegated national urban policies, examining whether a more bespoke approach is better than the traditional ‘one size fits all’.
The Capacity of Local Governments in Europe
This book compares local self-government in Europe. It examines local institutional structures, autonomy, and capacities in six selected countries - France, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, and the United Kingdom - each of which represents a typical model of European local government. Within Europe, an overall trend towards more local government capacities and autonomy can be identified, but there are also some counter tendencies to this trend and major differences regarding local politico-administrative settings, functional responsibilities, and resources. The book demonstrates that a certain degree of local financial autonomy and fiscal discretion is necessary for effective service provisio...
Cities as Political Objects
Focusing on the city’s role as the nexus for new forms of relationships between politics, economics and society, this fascinating book views the city as a political phenomena. Its chapters unravel the city’s plural histories, contested political, legal and administrative boundaries, and its policy-making capacity in the context of multi-level and market pressures.
Restrained Radicals
The entry of populist radical right parties into positions of power has generated anxious debate regarding the potential consequences for liberal democracy. Their activities in local government, however, have been largely overlooked. This comparative analysis of populist radical right-led local governments in Western Europe makes an important contribution to a crowded field through the study of so far uncharted terrain. Comparing cases in Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland, Fred Paxton details the extent of ideological impact in local politics and the various restraints that are placed on their radicalism. Drawing from a wealth of new data, he explains the varying degree of radicalism with recourse to two principal factors: the constraints of the local government institutional setting and the national party leaders' strategies towards the local arena. This book broadens our understanding of populist radical right parties in Western Europe and the sub-national processes through which they are developing.
Minority Nations in Multinational Federations
Multinational federations rest on the coexistence of two or more nations within a single polity. Within these federations, minority nations play a significant role as their character differs from the other building blocks of the federation. This edited volume offers a comprehensive comparison of two such minority nations - Quebec in Canada and Wallonia in Belgium - which exemplifies many dimensions, themes and issues highly resonant to the study of federalism and regionalism across the globe. Quebec and Wallonia have experienced several decades of federal dynamics where both regions have had to find their way as a minority nation in a multinational federation. For those studying federalism a...
Linking EU and National Governance
European governance ranks high on the present research agenda on Europe and has attracted considerable attention in public debate in the course of the past decade. This book takes a special approach as it highlights the multi-faceted interconnectedness of EU and national governance that comes with public policy making in the European space. The volume is a well chosen selection from the research of leading European scholars. These scholars provide an insight into the current debate on European governance by using state-of-the art, theory-orientated empirical research. The individual chapters give evidence of the functioning and the deficiencies of the penetrated system of governance that has...
Health Care Policy and Opinion in the United States and Canada
Heated debate surrounds the topic of health care in both the US and in Canada. In each country, these debates are based in some measure on perceptions about health care in their neighboring country. The perceptions held by Canadians about the US health care system, or those held by Americans about Canada, end up having significant impact on health policy makers in both countries. Health Care Policy and Opinion in the United States and Canada examines these perceptions and their effects using an extensive cross-national survey made up of two public opinion polls of over 3,500 respondents from the US and Canada. The book first develops a rigorous and detailed explanation of the factors that co...
State and Local Government Reforms in France and Germany
The edited book aims at comparatively analysing the development and current situation of state and local government reforms in France and Germany. The articles address State and administrative traditions, intergovernmental relations, decentralisation, administrative modernisation, public finances, public sector personnel, local democracy, local (mayoral) leadership and decentral/local social policy.
The Changing Context of Local Democracy
Political leadership at the local level has attracted growing attention in recent years in parallel with reforms of local government and of the municipal administration as well as the debate on a shift from government to governance. But this debate is mainly focused on single leaders, i.e. mayors or executive officers. Considering the power triangle of (i) the mayor, (ii) the municipal administration (executive officers) and (iii) the council, it is surprising that councillors have gained little interest so far. The aim of this book is to reflect on the role and task perception as well as the behaviour of councillors in the changing context of local democracy. The chapters start from a commo...
Multi-level Governance in the European Union
In recent years, the debate on the future institutional shape of the European Union has centred on the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty as its less ambitious (but possibly equally abortive) successor. The debate has thus neglected the emergence of a wide variety of 'new' and 'multi-level' forms of governing. The present volume takes stock of these debates and asks critical questions about policy conflicts and the effectiveness and legitimacy of these forms of governance: Under what conditions can they stand up to the high expectations that are put in them by their supporters? The volume offers reflections on the notion of network governance, Multi-Level Governance and the difficult issue of democratic accountability, as well as empirical case studies from the structural funds area as well as from environmental policy broadly conceived.
