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
Renewing Local Democracy
Renewing Local Democracy
The Normative Dimension to Governance
Given the transition from government to governance, what are the implications for local democratic forms of politics? In the era of powerful nation-states and the dominance of ideas of representative democracy, there was little problem in identifying the advantages of local democracy. In the view of Mill (1861), local government existed to promote liberty and pluralism as well as act as the training ground for participation in national political institutions. The key idea is that locally elected people should be in charge of local matters that affect them. Local government adds to the diverse nature of the democratic polity by experimenting with new ...
- Loading...