The Future of Local Self-Government: European Trends in Autonomy, Innovations and Central-Local Relations (Palgrave Studies in Sub-National Governance)

The Future of Local Self-Government Preface Praise for The Future of Local Self-Government Contents List of Figures List of Tables Notes on Contributors Chapter 1: The Essence and Transformation of Local Self-Government in Western Europe 1 Background and Approach 2 Dimensions of Analysis: Autonomy, Transformations, Intergovernmental Relations 3 Case Selection: Varieties of Local Government Systems and Groups of Countries References Part I: The Essence of Local Self-Government Chapter 2: The Future of Local Democracy: A Somewhat Dystopian View 1 Introduction 2 Sweden: A Paradigmatic Case 3 Reduced Discretion and Depoliticisation Judicialisation Globalisation Privatisation and Marketisation Networking and Partnerships Introducing Trust-Based Organisational Models The Evolution of Social Media 4 Changed Conditions: So What? References Chapter 3: Beyond Charter and Index: Reassessing Local Autonomy 1 Introduction 2 Local Autonomy, Scholarly Indicators 3 Local Autonomy, the European Charter 4 Local Autonomy, the Local Autonomy Index 5 Local Autonomy, an Encompassing Set of Indicators 6 Discussion, Local Autonomy Challenged References Chapter 4: Redefining Local Self-Government: Finnish Municipalities Seeking Their Essence 1 Introduction 2 Local Self-Government Conceptually and in the European Charter of Local Self-Government 3 The Main Features and History of Local Self-Government in Finland 4 The Current Challenges of Local Self-Government 5 Conclusions References Chapter 5: Local Autonomy in the Nordic Countries: Between a Rock and a Hard Place 1 Introduction 2 Local Autonomy as a Research Question 3 Local Autonomy in the Nordic Context 4 Conclusions and Future Outlook References Chapter 6: Local Self-Government and the Choice for Local Governance Arrangements in Nine Swiss Municipal Tasks 1 Introduction 2 Local Self-Government and Decision-Making, Financing and Implementing Competencies in a Sectorial Perspective 3 Local Governance Arrangements and the Impact of Decision-Making Competencies in Nine Municipal Tasks 4 Conclusion and Future Outlook References Chapter 7: Chasing the Creative Class: What Works, and What Doesn’t? Recruitment Strategies in Norwegian Local Government 1 Staffing Local Services in Knowledge Societies. A Never-Ending Struggle? 2 What Is Recruitment? 3 Recruitment Strategies. The Dependent Variable 4 Data Sources and the Norwegian Context 5 What Are the Effective Strategies? 6 How Are Strategies Bundled? 7 What Works Where? The Significance of Outer and Inner Context 8 Conclusions. The Findings and Future Challenges for Recruitment to and Studies of Recruitment in Local Government Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Operationalisation of Managerial Autonomy Extent of Delegation References Part II: Challenges and Transformations: Digitalisation, Marketisation, Amalgamation Chapter 8: The Digitalisation of Local Public Services. Evidence from the German Case 1 Introduction 2 Hurdles to the Digital Transformation in the German Public Administration 3 State of Digital Service Provision in Local One-Stop Shops 4 Effects and Dysfunctionalities of the Digitalisation in Local One-Stop Shops 5 Conclusions and Future Outlook References Chapter 9: Challenges of Digital Service Provision for Local Governments from the Citizens’ View: Comparing Citizens’ Expectations and Their Experiences of Digital Service Provision 1 Introduction 2 Expectation 3 Use 4 Satisfaction 5 Conclusion and Future Outlook References Chapter 10: The Resistance Threshold to the Amalgamation of Jurisdictions: MP’s Attitudes About Budget Control and Social Identification in the Swiss Cantons 1 Introduction 2 Literature and Hypothesis 3 Institutional Background in Switzerland 4 Survey 5 Elicited Resistance Thresholds 6 Modelling the Resistance Threshold 7 Conclusion and Outlook References Chapter 11: County Size and County Council Mandate: Decreasing Motivation Due to Longer Distances? 1 Introduction 2 Hypotheses 3 Method and Case Selection 4 Outcomes 5 Outlook References Chapter 12: Where Is Municipal Marketisation Heading? Experiences from England and Scandinavia 1 Introduction 2 Framework for Comparing Variants of Marketisation 3 Analytical Design: Service and Country Context 4 Varieties of Marketisation Provider Arrangements Contract Forms Internal Marketisation and In-house Provision 5 Conclusion and Future Outlook References Part III: Changing Intergovernmental Relations: Supervision and Subnational Policy-making Chapter 13: Decentralisation and Reconfiguration of Multilevel Research Policy: The Case of Sweden 1 Introduction 2 Unpacking the Concept of Decentralisation in Research Policy 3 Decentralisation and Reconfiguration of Research Policy in Sweden 4 Conclusion References Chapter 14: The Impact of Local Autonomy on Land-Use Planning: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Two Swiss Municipalities 1 Introduction 2 Land-Use Planning in Switzerland Through the Lenses of Federalism and Urban Regime Theory The Swiss Context of the Study Federalism and Urban Regime Theory: A Conceptual Framework for Local Autonomy 3 Method and Materials 4 Results Municipality A: Resistance to Supra-local Planning Municipality B: An Example of Locally Adapted Solutions 5 Local Autonomy as a Driver for the Successful Implementation of Revised Land-Use Plans 6 Conclusion: Future Trends for Local Administration in Land-Use Planning References Chapter 15: City-Regional Governance in Flanders: The Potential of Mobility Regions as a Critical Juncture 1 Introduction1 2 The Impact of Deconcentration on Local Autonomy 3 Evolution Towards a New Type of City-Regional Policies? 4 Pitfalls of Institutional Change 5 Conclusion and Future Outlook References Chapter 16: Strategic Policy Planning at the Local Level: A Flemish Performance Starring Regional Government 1 Introduction 2 From Local Burden to Regional Reform: Strategic Planning as a Case of Intergovernmental Fusion 3 Regional Conformance or Not to Lower the Local Planning Burden 4 Findings: Lowering the Planning Burden and Minimising Top-Down Steering? Waiving of Sector-Specific Planning Documents (Principle One) Reformulation of Sectorial Objectives with More Respect to Local Autonomy (Principle Two) Shifting from Input to Output and Outcome Steering (Principle Three) Asking for Evidence of Local Stakeholder Participation (Principle Four) Asking for Local Co-financing (Principle Five) 5 Conclusions and Future Outlook References Chapter 17: State Supervision of Local Budgets: From Forbearance to No Concession 1 Introduction 2 Development of Financial Supervision in North Rhine-Westphalia 3 Explaining the Transformation of the Supervisory Regime Long-Term Persistence of a Failing System Institutional Change Towards a More Restrictive Supervisory System 4 Conclusion References Primary Sources Chapter 18: New Ways of Limiting Local Government Debt: An Empirical Assessment of the German Case 1 Introduction 2 Instruments and Their Mechanisms 3 Empirical Procedure 4 Results 5 Discussion and Conclusion References Chapter 19: Reforms of School Supervision in the German Länder: Converging School Supervision Structures? 1 Introduction 2 School Supervision in Germany 3 Framework 4 Reforms of School Supervision Structures in the German Länder Single-Level School Supervisory Systems Two-Level School Supervisory Systems with Lower School Supervisory Boards Two-Level School Supervisory Systems with Superior School Supervisory Boards Three-Level School Supervisory Systems 5 Convergence of School Supervision Structures in the German Länder? 6 Conclusion References Part IV: Future Outlook and Scenarios Chapter 20: Future Outlook and Scenarios 1 Where Is Local Self-Government Heading? 2 The Essence of Local Self-Government Territory, Network, or Something Else? Recruiting Politicians and Public Service Employees 3 Challenges and Transformations Technology as the Solution to All Problems? Markets, Consumers, and Choices Big Is Beautiful? 4 Changing Intergovernmental Relations Janus Face: Local Community—An Extension of State Government Money Makes the World Go Around 5 Utopia or Dystopia? References Index