Summary
Contents
Subject index
This text provides a comprehensive introduction to local government and urban politics in contemporary Western Europe. It is the first book to map and explain the significant processes of change characterizing local government systems and to place these in a genuinely comparative context. Students are introduced to the traditional structures and institutions of local government and shown how these have been transforming in response to increased economic and political competition, new ideas, institutional reform and the Europeanization of public policies in Europe. At the books core is the perceived transition from local government to local governance. This key development is traced thematically across a w
Leadership and the Local Executive
Leadership and the Local Executive
In local politics there is a tension between fragmentation and co-ordination. Political leaders and institutions try to counteract the complexity and diversity inherent in local social and economic life. The argument of the chapter, which extends the claims of the others, is that the existing tension between diversity and co-ordination in local politics becomes more marked under conditions of governance because the stable environment under which political leaders governed for so long has shifted to one of fragmented institutions and rapid policy change. Solutions normally adopted by mayors or by ruling party groups no longer work so neatly as before.
Pressures for ...
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