The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe (Routledge International Handbooks)

The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe represents the standard reference text and practical resource for everybody who analyzes issues such as local electoral systems, voting behavior, or political representation in Europe. It provides comprehensive and expert coverage of 40 European countries – organized along the respective local state traditions – and in addressing a wide range of important questions related to local elections and voting, it broadens the scope of existing analyses quantitatively as well as qualitatively. Finally, it affords a more theoretically grounded typology of local elections and voting. Each country chapter is written by a leading expert and follows a rigorous conceptual framework for cross-national comparisons, providing an overview of the local government system, details on the place of local elections within the multilevel political system, specific features of the electoral system, analysis of the main electoral outcomes in recent decades, and, finally, reflective discussion. Representative democracy is as widespread at the local as at the national level, and as the significance of local authorities in Europe has increased in recent decades, local elections represent a crucial area of study. The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe is an authoritative and essential reference text for scholars and students interested in local electoral politics and, more broadly, European studies, public administration, and political science. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents List of figures List of tables List of contributors Preface Part 1 Introduction 1 From perennial bridesmaids to fully fledged spouses: advancing the comparative study of local elections and voting Part 2 The Nordic States 2 Denmark: how two and a half parties rule within a multiparty system 3 Finland: local autonomy, tenacious national parties, and sovereign, but indifferent voters 4 Iceland: where localism prevails 5 Norway: local democracy by trial (and error) 6 Sweden: joint election day, party dominance, and extensive turnout Part 3 The British Isles 7 Ireland: an atypical electoral system for an atypical local government system 8 United Kingdom: diversity amid the Cinderella elections? Part 4 The Rhinelandic States 9 Austria: strong participation across federal diversity 10 Belgium: between national barometer and local atmosphere 11 Germany: a variety of local elections in a federal system 12 Liechtenstein: two leading parties in a direct democratic framework 13 Luxembourg: toward a thinner relationship between local and national elections? 14 The Netherlands: increasing responsibilities and nationalized elections 15 Switzerland: low turnout but no second-order elections Part 5 The Southern European States 16 Andorra: local elections in quasi-federal institutions 17 Cyprus: national parties’ dominance and the decline of electoral participation 18 France: competition only in large cities 19 Greece: mayors in the foreground, parties behind the scenes 20 Italy: hard-to-decipher local elections and voting 21 Portugal: elections and voting in a dual-tier, local government system 22 Spain: one main system to govern them all? Stable institutions in heterogeneous contexts Part 6 New democracies: the Central and Eastern European States 23 Czech Republic: local elections in a fragmented municipal system 24 Estonia: the consolidation of partisan politics in a small country with small municipalities 25 Hungary: the expansion and the limits of national politics at the local level 26 Latvia: electoral drama in local governments 27 Lithuania: between a volatile electorate and the revival of nonpartisanship 28 Poland: a hyperlocalized system? 29 Slovakia: a gradual weakening of political parties in a stable local electoral system 30 Ukraine: the first experiences with voting in the amalgamated territorial communities Part 7 New democracies: the Southeastern European States 31 Albania: the path to decentralized democratic governance 32 Bosnia and Herzegovina: local elections within a weak and contested state 33 Bulgaria: more open local electoral rules 34 Croatia: games of local democracy in the shadow of national politics 35 Kosovo: local elections and ethnic ramifications 36 Moldova: party-shifting mayors within a nationalized local party system 37 Montenegro: local elections in the shadow of national politics 38 North Macedonia: local elections and parliamentary political dynamics 39 Romania: a case of national parties ruling local politics 40 Serbia: three phases of local electoral politics after 1990 41 Slovenia: where strong, nonpartisan mayors are reelected many times over Part 8 Conclusions 42 ‘Happily ever after’? Comparing local elections and voting in 40 European countries Index From perennial bridesmaids to fully fledged spouses : advancing the comparative study of local elections and voting / Adam Gendźwiłł, Ulrik Kjaer and Kristof Steyvers -- Denmark : how two-and-a-half parties rule within a multi-party system / Ulrik Kjaer -- Finland : local autonomy, tenacious national parties and sovereign, but indifferent, voters / Siv Sandberg -- Iceland : where localism prevails / Eva Marín Hlynsdóttir and Eva H. Önnudóttir -- Norway : local democracy by trial (and error) / Jo Saglie and Signe Bock Segaard -- Sweden : joint election day, party dominance and extensive turnout / Anders Lidström -- Ireland : an atypical electoral system for an atypical local government system / Aodh Quinlivan, Mark Callanan and Liam Weeks -- United Kingdom : diversity amid the Cinderella elections? / Alistair Clark and Alia Middleton -- Austria : strong participation across federal diversity / Philipp Umek -- Belgium : between national barometer and local atmosphere / Kristof Steyvers -- Germany : a variety of local elections in a federal system / Angelika Vetter -- Liechtenstein : two leading parties in a direct democratic framework / Wilfried Marxer -- Luxembourg : towards a thinner relationship between local and national elections? / Dan Schmit, Raphaël Kies and Patrick Dumont -- The Netherlands : increasing responsibilities and nationalized elections / Henk van der Kolk -- Switzerland : low turnout but no second order elections / Andreas Ladner -- Andorra : local elections in a quasi-federal microstate / Lluís Medir, Pere Vilanova and Esther Pano -- Cyprus : national parties' dominance and the decline of electoral participation / Andreas Kirlappos -- France : competition only in large cities / Bernard Dolez and Annie Laurent -- Greece : mayors in the foreground, parties behind the scene / Nikos Hlepas and Theodore Chadjipadelis -- Italy : a hard-to-decipher local voting / Silvia Bolgherini and Selena Grimaldi -- Portugal : elections and voting in a dual-tier local government system / António F. Tavares and Pedro J. Camões -- Spain : one main system to govern them all? : stable institutions in heterogeneous contexts / Carmen Navarro, Lluís Medir and Jaume Magre "The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe represents the standard reference text and practical resource for everybody who analyses issues as local electoral systems, voting behavior or political representation in Europe. It provides comprehensive and expert coverage of 40 European countries - organized along the respective local state traditions - and in addressing a wide range of important questions related to local elections and voting, broadens the scope of existing analyses quantitatively as well as qualitatively. Finally, it affords a more theoretically grounded typology of local elections and voting. Each country chapter is written by a leading expert and follows a rigorous conceptual framework for cross-national comparisons, providing an overview of the local government system, details on the place of local elections within the multi-level political system, specific features of the electoral system, analysis of the main electoral outcomes in the recent decades and finally reflective discussion. Representative democracy is as widespread at the local as at the national level, and as the significance of local authorities in Europe increased in the recent decades, local elections represent a crucial area of study. The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe is an authoritative and essential reference text for scholars and students interested in local electoral politics, and more broadly European studies, public administration and political science"-- Provided by publisher This handbook represents the standard reference text and practical resource for everybody who analyses issues as local electoral systems, voting behavior or political representation in Europe.