The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe

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.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 Sub-national 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 Visegrad States ; 20. Poland: Europeanization of Sub-National 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 ; PART VI CONCLUSIONS ; 30. 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