This book considers local autonomy, measured as a multidimensional concept, from a cross-country comparative perspective, and examines how variations can be explained and what their consequences are. It fills a gap in the literature by providing a comprehensive study of the different components of local autonomy across a large number of countries, over time. It offers a theoretically saturated concept to measure local autonomy and applies it to 39 countries, including all 28 EU member states together with Albania, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Moldova, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland Turkey and Ukraine, over a period of 25 years (1990-2014).

How regions and cities adapt to a Network Society and a globalized environment, the policies they pursue and how structures of governance are transformed in the pursuit of those policies are major themes in this volume. These issues are addressed with specific reference to the Nordic regions of Europe. Covering the four Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden plus the Faroe Islands, this volume charts the changes in networking activities and related development initiatives that have taken place over the last ten years. This means analysing regions in their pursuit of new policies, partnerships and styles of representation. Through this process regions are becoming partners and players in European integration and a movement of integrative regionalism is taking shape which is different from inward looking identity regionalism or self-centred competitive regionalism and takes regions beyond lobbying in Brussels.

This book focuses on one particular aspect of the post-communist transformations in the East-Central European countries. In studying the local government reforms, it evaluates achievements with the traditional yardsticks for local government performance: democracy, efficiency, and autonomy.

How regions and cities adapt to a Network Society and a globalized environment, the policies they pursue and how structures of governance are transformed in the pursuit of those policies are major themes in this volume. These issues are addressed with specific reference to the Nordic regions of Europe. Covering the four Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden plus the Faroe Islands, this volume charts the changes in networking activities and related development initiatives that have taken place over the last ten years. This means analysing regions in their pursuit of new policies, partnerships and styles of representation. Through this process regions are becoming partners and players in European integration and a movement of integrative regionalism is taking shape which is different from inward looking identity regionalism or self-centred competitive regionalism and takes regions beyond lobbying in Brussels.

First published in 1999, this volume is a study of regional and local co-operation across national borders in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and also of regional co-operation out of the area - across the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and in the Barents region. The focus of the study is on processes of region-building. Co-operation between regions across national borders is seen as a creative process, and as something that has to be nurtured and guided. The authors recognised the need for a work which examined issues crossing Nordic borders and made the information more publicly accessible, emerging within evolving discussions of regional governance, cross-border collaborations and Nordic co-operation. The editors have featured three forms of contributions: a series of regional case studies, collations of data on sub-national governments and relating these sub-national factors to debates on Nordic co-operation and European integration. Authors with specialist regional knowledge examine these processes in detail, through case studies which represent the most important of this type of Nordic area and provide a view of what may constitute 'success' in such ventures. The authors also discuss what such processes may signify for general Nordic co-operation against the backdrop of European integration and seek to indicate what Nordic regions may bring to European regionalism. Such a discussion is of particular interest since the EU acquired a new Nordic dimension when Sweden and Finland joined. Contributors' articles focus on areas including the Kvarken Council, the ARKO co-operation, the internationalisation of Finnish and Norwegian local government and the Oresund region. The collaboration was published in English in order to better contribute to discussions on cross-border interaction more widely, particularly in the case of Europe.

This book focuses on one particular aspect of the post-communist transformations in the East-Central European countries. In studying the local government reforms, it evaluates achievements with the traditional yardsticks for local government performance: democracy, efficiency, and autonomy.

First published in 1999, this volume is a study of regional and local co-operation across national borders in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and also of regional co-operation out of the area - across the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and in the Barents region. The focus of the study is on processes of region-building. Co-operation between regions across national borders is seen as a creative process, and as something that has to be nurtured and guided. The authors recognised the need for a work which examined issues crossing Nordic borders and made the information more publicly accessible, emerging within evolving discussions of regional governance, cross-border collaborations and Nordic co-operation. The editors have featured three forms of contributions: a series of regional case studies, collations of data on sub-national governments and relating these sub-national factors to debates on Nordic co-operation and European integration. Authors with specialist regional knowledge examine these processes in detail, through case studies which represent the most important of this type of Nordic area and provide a view of what may constitute 'success' in such ventures. The authors also discuss what such processes may signify for general Nordic co-operation against the backdrop of European integration and seek to indicate what Nordic regions may bring to European regionalism. Such a discussion is of particular interest since the EU acquired a new Nordic dimension when Sweden and Finland joined. Contributors' articles focus on areas including the Kvarken Council, the ARKO co-operation, the internationalisation of Finnish and Norwegian local government and the Oresund region. The collaboration was published in English in order to better contribute to discussions on cross-border interaction more widely, particularly in the case of Europe.

Der englischsprachige Band fuhrt ein in die Lokal- und Regionalpolitik der mittel-osteuropaischen Reformlander. Der Band beleuchtet aktuelle Probleme der Kommunal- und Regionalpolitik in den Landern Mittel-Osteuropas, einschliesslich Russlands. Zentral sind Fragen der Beziehungen zwischen zentraler, regionaler und lokaler Politik- und Verwaltungsebene, der lokalen Demokratie und Partizipation sowie Fragen der Verwaltungsmodernisierung.
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This excellent collection updates and adds to a growing literature on small states. The cases and conditions which the authors examine are well chosen and provide fresh thinking on enduring questions.' - Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University, USSmall States in the Modern World comprehensively assesses the different modes of adaptation by small states in response to the security and economic vulnerabilities posed by global change. It uses a diverse collection of case studies to explore the complexities of change and to place them in their temporal and geographical context. Issues covered include: - international security and economic vulnerability - small states in international organizations, including the European Union - Quebec and Scotland as autonomous nations but not independent states - different modes of adaptation including market liberalism, social concertation and the management of natural resources. These contributions from renowned authors show that small states need external shelter and internal buffers in order to cope with vulnerability. Although many of the responses are path-dependent, driven by historical legacies, there is scope to choose. This compelling discussion of adaptations of small states will prove invaluable to scholars in political science, international relations and regional studies, as well as policy-makers and in particular those working in small states and would-be states. Contributors: A.J.K. Bailes, H. Baldersheim, J. Batora, N. Brandal, O. Bratberg, L. Cianetti, M. Harvey, M. Keating, J. McNeill, D. Panke, S. Paquin, A. Sikk, A. Steen, B. Thorhallsson

Title first published in 2003. Responses to globalisation in politics and governance at national, regional and local levels of government in France and Norway are explored in this engaging study.

This book considers local autonomy, measured as a multidimensional concept, from a cross-country comparative perspective, and examines how variations can be explained and what their consequences are. It fills a gap in the literature by providing a comprehensive study of the different components of local autonomy across a large number of countries, over time. It offers a theoretically saturated concept to measure local autonomy and applies it to 39 countries, including all 28 EU member states together with Albania, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Moldova, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland Turkey and Ukraine, over a period of 25 years (1990-2014).

What is special about small states? How do they adapt their policies and patterns of governance to meet turbulent times such as a new security environment and the international financial crisis? Answers to these and further questions are provided by experts. What are the constraints on and opportunities of governance of small states in an interdependent and increasingly turbulent global setting? How do small states deal with radical changes in the international environment? What is the role of political institutions in facilitating and constraining policy responses to a rapidly changing international environment? How can political leadership contribute to stability in times of change? This book seeks to answer these questions by taking a comparative perspective on the processes of change and adaptation in the governance of Norway and Slovakia. These two small European states with highly open economies have been exposed to the same set of global turbulences related to post Cold War changes in the security environment and the global financial crisis; they are also facing internal challenges that spring from rapidly rising expectations while demographic shifts put pressure on their welfare systems. Their governance structures and processes are informed by their different political-administrative cultures, different history and levels of stability of democratic governance structures and, indeed, by their different modes of attachment to the European Union and other regional integration frameworks. These differences and a comparative approach in exploring the questions raised above can shed light not only on the specific forms of adaptation of governance structures in two small European states, but also generate insights into the role of integration structures in facilitating and constraining change.