The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe (Oxford Handbooks)

'the Oxford Handbook Of Local And Regional Democracy In Europe' Is An Up-to-date And Comprehensive Analysis Of Subnational Democracy In Europe. It Analyses Subnational Democracy In The 27 Member States Of The Eu Plus Norway And Switzerland. Edited By John Loughlin, Frank Hendriks, Anders Lidström. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents List of Figures List of Maps List of Tables List of Text Boxes List of Contributors Introduction PART I. THE BRITISH ISLES 1 The United Kingdom: Is There Really an Anglo Model? 2 Ireland: Halting Steps Towards Local Democracy PART II. THE RHINELANDIC STATES 3 Belgium: A Tale of Regional Divergence? 4 The Netherlands: Subnational Democracy and the Reinvention of Tradition 5 Luxembourg: The Challenge of Inclusive Democracy in a ‘Local State’ 6 Germany: Varieties of Democracy in a Federal System 7 Austria: From Consensus to Competition and Participation? 8 Switzerland: Subsidiarity, Power-sharing, and Direct Democracy PART III. THE NORDIC STATES 9 Denmark: Between Local Democracy and Implementing Agency of the Welfare State 10 Finland: The Limits of the Unitary Decentralized Model 11 Sweden: Party-dominated Subnational Democracy under Challenge? 12 Norway: The Decline of Subnational Democracy? PART IV. THE SOUTHERN EUROPEAN STATES 13 France: Between Centralization and Fragmentation 14 Italy: The Subnational Dimension to Strengthening Democracy since the 1990s 15 Spain: The Consolidation of Strong Regional Governments and the Limits of Local Decentralization 16 Portugal: Local Democracy in a Small Centralized Republic 17 Greece: A Case of Fragmented Centralism and ‘Behind the Scenes’ Localism 18 Malta: Local Government: A Slowly Maturing Process 19 Cyprus: Political Modernity and the Structures of Democracy in a Divided Island PART V. THE NEW DEMOCRACIES The Visegrád States 20 Poland: Europeanization of Subnational Governments 21 The Czech Republic: Local Government in the Years After the Reform 22 Hungary: Remarkable Successes and Costly Failures: An Evaluation of Subnational Democracy 23 Slovakia: Local Government: Establishing Democracy at the Grassroots The Baltic States 24 Estonia: Challenges and Lessons of the Development of Local Autonomy 25 Latvia: Experiments and Reforms in Decentralization 26 Lithuania: Brave Enough to Implement Daring Democratic Reforms? The Balkan States 27 Slovenia in Transition: Decentralization as a Goal 28 Bulgaria: The Dawn of a New Era of Inclusive Subnational Democracy? 29 Romania: From Historical Regions to Local Decentralization via the Unitary State CONCLUSIONS 30 European Subnational Democracy: Comparative Reflections and Conclusions Appendix 1 Structure of Subnational Governments in Europe (2007) Appendix 2 Subnational Finances in Europe Appendix 3 Trust, Importance of Local/Regional Government, and Levels of Corruption in Europe Subject Index A B C D E F G H I K L M N P Q R S T U V W Y Name Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z 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. The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe analyzes 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, French, 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. The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe is the most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of subnational democracy in Europe. It is the only book to analyse subnational democracy in the 27 member states of the EU plus Norway and Switzerland.