The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe: (Routledge International Handbooks)

The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe represents the standard reference text and practical resource for everybody who analyzes issues such as local electoral systems, voting behavior, or political representation in Europe. It provides comprehensive and expert coverage of 40 European countries – organized along the respective local state traditions – and in addressing a wide range of important questions related to local elections and voting, it broadens the scope of existing analyses quantitatively as well as qualitatively. Finally, it affords a more theoretically grounded typology of local elections and voting. Each country chapter is written by a leading expert and follows a rigorous conceptual framework for cross-national comparisons, providing an overview of the local government system, details on the place of local elections within the multilevel political system, specific features of the electoral system, analysis of the main electoral outcomes in recent decades, and, finally, reflective discussion. Representative democracy is as widespread at the local as at the national level, and as the significance of local authorities in Europe has increased in recent decades, local elections represent a crucial area of study. The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe is an authoritative and essential reference text for scholars and students interested in local electoral politics and, more broadly, European studies, public administration, and political science.

Table of Contents:
PART 1: Introduction 1. From perennial bridesmaids to fully fledged spouses: advancing the comparative study of local elections and voting PART 2: The Nordic States 2. Denmark: How two and a half parties rule within a multiparty system 3. Finland: Local autonomy, tenacious national parties, and sovereign, but indifferent voters 4. Iceland: Where localism prevails 5. Norway: Local democracy by trial (and error) 6. Sweden: Joint election day, party dominance, and extensive turnout PART 3: The British Isles 7. Ireland: An atypical electoral system for an atypical local government system 8. United Kingdom: Diversity amid the Cinderella elections? PART 4: The Rhinelandic States 9. Austria: Strong participation across federal diversity 10. Belgium: Between national barometer and local atmosphere 11. Germany: A variety of local elections in a federal system 12. Liechtenstein: Two leading parties in a direct democratic framework 13. Luxembourg: Toward a thinner relationship between local and national elections? 14. The Netherlands: Increasing responsibilities and nationalized elections 15. Switzerland: Low turnout but no second-order elections PART 5: The Southern European States 16. Andorra: Local elections in quasi-federal institutions 17. Cyprus: National parties’ dominance and the decline of electoral participation 18. France: Competition only in large cities 19. Greece: Mayors in the foreground, parties behind the scenes 20. Italy: Hard-to-decipher local elections and voting 21. Portugal: Elections and voting in a dual-tier local government system 22. Spain: One main system to govern them all? Stable institutions in heterogeneous contexts PART 6: New Democracies: The Central and Eastern European States 23. Czech Republic: Local elections in a fragmented municipal system 24. Estonia: The consolidation of partisan politics in a small country with small municipalities 25. Hungary: The expansion and the limits of national politics at the local level 26. Latvia: Electoral drama in local governments 27. Lithuania: Between a volatile electorate and the revival of nonpartisanship 28. Poland: A hyperlocalized system? 29. Slovakia: A gradual weakening of political parties in a stable local electoral system 30. Ukraine: The first experiences with voting in the amalgamated territorial communities PART 7: New Democracies: The Southeastern European States 31. Albania: The path to decentralized democratic governance 32. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Local elections within a weak and contested state 33. Bulgaria: More open local electoral rules 34. Croatia: Games of local democracy in the shadow of national politics 35. Kosovo: Local elections and ethnic ramifications 36. Moldova: Party-shifting mayors within a nationalized local party system 37. Montenegro: Local elections in the shadow of national politics 38. North Macedonia: Local elections and parliamentary political dynamics 39. Romania: A case of national parties ruling local politics 40. Serbia: Three phases of local electoral politics after 1990 41. Slovenia: Where strong, nonpartisan mayors are reelected many times over PART 8: Conclusions 42. 'Happily ever after'? Comparing local elections and voting in 40 European countries

About the Author :
Adam Gendźwiłł is Assistant Professor in the Department of Local Development and Policy at the University of Warsaw, Poland. Ulrik Kjaer is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. Kristof Steyvers is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Ghent University, Belgium.

Review :
'This is a formidable book. The book provides a golden opportunity to learn about how democracy works at the local level. Forty great chapters about electoral systems, electoral participation, party politicization, and descriptive representation in 40 different countries, plus an enlightening introduction and conclusion in which the similarities and amazing variety of patterns are clearly highlighted. This is an absolute must read if you study local politics, and it is fun to read for everyone. You will learn a lot and you will want to study local elections because there are so many intriguing facts and patterns to make sense of'. André Blais, University of Montreal, Canada 'This comprehensive volume on local elections and voting in Europe is truly impressive. It offers a well-conceived theoretical two-dimensional structure which allows the many authors to provide comparable insights on the 40 countries covered, whether large or small, well-known or completely new to the scholarly community. The study of local elections has previously often suffered from a focus on only a few selected jurisdictions, but now presentations and data-access for a huge variety of countries are made available so that a new generation of local election studies can further enrich election studies in general. The editors’ effort is very commendable and there is no doubt that this volume is the new must-read for all comparativists working with elections at the local level. But there is also no doubt that even people who still prefer to focus on one country only can also benefit considerably from it'. Jørgen Elklit, Aarhus University, Denmark 'Elections have been called "feasts of democracy". Without any doubt local governments across the globe are the main venue for such democratic feasts. It is therefore hard to believe that local polls have long been a blank spot on the map of our knowledge of democratic elections. This volume – produced by the fine-fleur of international experts in this emerging field of research – makes a giant step forward in charting this largely unknown territory'. Bas Denters, University of Twente, The Netherlands