Policy Making at the Second Tier of Local Government in Europe : What Is Happening in Provinces, Counties, Départements and Landkreise in the On-going Re-scaling of Statehood?

Debates about multi-level governance have led to a profound restructuring of regional and local government. The second level of local government is under review in most European countries, with the aim to strengthen the institutional capacity of municipalities or to develop appropriate institutional structures for governing fragmented urban areas. This book provides a thematic and cross-national analysis of the key actors in local government that form the crucial components of effective and democratic policy making. Focussing on the second tier of local government, it examines new empirical data on councillors from this level of government in 15 European countries and integrates important variables such as party politics, notions of democracy, finance, multi-level settings. Divided into five parts, it addresses: Attitudes of county/provincial councillors towards administrative and territorial reforms; Their role perceptions and role behaviour; Their political orientation; Actor constellations and governance arrangements; Political socialization and recruitment, professionalization and career patterns of county/provincial councillors. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of local government, urban studies, regional studies, political science, sociology and geography. Front Cover 1 The Second Tier of Local Government in Europe 10 Copyright Page 11 Contents 12 List of figures 14 List of tables 15 List of contributors 18 1. Introduction: Xavier Bertrana and Hubert Heinelt 20 2. Belgium: Tony Valcke, Herwig Reynaert and Kristof Steyvers 46 3. Denmark: Poul Erik Mouritzen 75 4. France: Emmanuel Négrier and Fabien Nicolas 92 5. The United Kingdom: Steve Martin 109 6. Germany: Hubert Heinelt and Björn Egner 125 7. Greece: Nikos Hlepas and Panagiotis Getimis 145 8. Hungary: Gábor Soós 165 9. Italy: Carlo Baccetti 183 10. Poland: Pawel Swianiewicz 204 11. Romania: Cristina Stanus and Daniel Pop 224 12. Spain: Xavier Bertrana, Marina Espinosa and Jaume Magre 243 13. Sweden: Henry Bäck 262 14. The Netherlands: Ger Arendsen 288 15. Turkey: Korel Göymen 308 16. Conclusion: Xavier Bertrana and Hubert Heinelt 327 Index 356