The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe

The most sophisticated and up-to-date analysis of subnational democracy Covers a range of traditional and contemporary topics Sophisticated political analysis of local governance trends in Europe and a mine of factual information about 29 European countries 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.

John Loughlin, Frank Hendriks, and Anders Lidstrom: Introduction Part I The British Isles 1: Peter John and Colin Copus: The United Kingdom: Is There Really an Anglo Model? 2: John Loughlin: Ireland: Halting Steps Towards Local Democracy Part II The Rhinelandic States 3: Ellen Wayenberg, Filip De Rynck, Kristof Steyvers, Jean-Benoît Pilet: Belgium: a Tale of Regional Divergence? 4: Frank Hendriks and Linze Schaap: The Netherlands: Subnational Democracy and the Reinvention of Tradition 5: Patrick Dumont, Philippe Poirier, and Raphael Kies: Luxembourg: The Challenge of Inclusive Democracy in a 'Local State' 6: Arthur Benz and Christina Zimmer: Germany: Varieties of Democracy in a Federal System 7: Franz Fallend: Austria: From Consensus to Competition and Participation? 8: Andreas Ladner: Switzerland: Subsidiarity, Power-sharing, and Direct Democracy Part III The Nordic States 9: Jens Blom-Hansen and Anne Heeager: Denmark: Between Local Democracy and Implementing Agency of the Welfare State 10: Stefan Sjöblom: Finland: The Limits of the Unitary Decentralized Model 11: Anders Lidström: Sweden: Party Dominated Sub-national Democracy under Challenge? 12: Harald Baldersheim and Lawrence E. Rose: Norway: The Decline of Subnational Democracy? Part IV The Southern European States 13: Alistair Cole: France: Between Centralization and Fragmentation 14: Simona Piattoni and Marco Brunazzo: Italy: The Subnational Dimension to Strengthening Democracy since the 1990s 15: César Colino and Eloísa del Pino: Spain: The Consolidation of Strong Regional Governments and the Limits of Local Decentralization 16: José M. Magone: Portugal: Local Democracy in a Small Centralized Republic 17: Nikos Hlepas and Panos Getimis: Greece: A Case of Fragmented Centralism and 'Behind the Scenes' Localism 18: Henry Frendo: Malta: Local Government: A Slowly Maturing Process 19: Andrekos Varnava and Christalla Yakinthou: Cyprus: Political Modernity and the Structures of Democracy in a Divided Island Part V The New Democracies The Visegrád States 20: Pawel Swianiewicz: Poland: Europeanization of Sub-National Governments 21: Michal Illner: The Czech Republic: Local Government in the Years After the Reform 22: Gábor Soós and László Kákai: Hungary: Remarkable Successes and Costly Failures: An Evaluation of Subnational Democracy 23: Sona Capková: Slovakia: Local Government: Establishing Democracy at the Grassroots The Baltic States 24: Georg Sootla and Kersten Kattai: Estonia: Challenges and Lessons of the Development of Local Autonomy 25: Inga Vilka: Latvia: Experiments and Reforms in Decentralization 26: Jolanta Vaiciuniene and Saulius Nefas: Lithuania: Brave Enough to Implement Daring Democratic Reforms? The Balkan States 27: Stanka Setnikar-Canka: Slovenia in Transition: Decentralization as a Goal 28: Pavlina Nikolova: Bulgaria: The Dawn of a New Era of Inclusive Subnational Democracy? 29: Ana Maria Dobre: Romania: From Historical Regions to Local Decentralization via the Unitary State Part VI Conclusions 30: Frank Hendriks, John Loughlin, and Anders Lidström: European Subnational Democracy: Comparative Reflections and Conclusions Appendix 1 Structure of Sub-National Governments in Europe (2007) Appendix 2 Sub-national Finances in Europe Appendix 3 Trust, Importance of Local/Regional Government, and Levels of Corruption in Europe Index