About the Book
This book explores local autonomy as measured by the updated and extended Local Autonomy Index, and considers the underlying issues related to this multidimensional concept. It analyses dynamics spanning over three decades concerning the dimensions of local autonomy and its variables and indicators.
Adopting an international comparative perspective, authors examine common and differing features of various states to show how these features pertain to local autonomy, as well as what impacts derive from local government configurations. Chapters cover 57 countries situated on six continents over a span of 31 years, including almost all member states of the European Union, Council of Europe and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The authors define local autonomy as a multifaceted concept which can be measured through legal, functional, financial, organizational, administrative and central-or-regional-access dimensions. With fresh empirical data and findings on local autonomy, they capture its evolving nature.
Dynamics and Issues of Local Autonomy is an essential read for scholars of public administration, regulation and governance, public policy and political science. Providing a better understanding of the factors that influence local autonomy and its implications for governance and service delivery, this book is a vital resource for practitioners and policymakers alike.
Table of Contents:
Contents
Preface vii
PART I ASSESSING AND MEASURING LOCAL AUTONOMY
1 The LAI 2.0: project scope, conceptualization of local
autonomy, methodology, and contributions 2
2 Main results and dynamics of local autonomy 23
3 Self-rule versus interactive rule: towards a cross-national
empirical typology of local autonomy 57
PART II ISSUES OF LOCAL AUTONOMY
4 Asymmetric decentralization at the subnational level: varied
arrangements of local autonomy 74
5 Organizational autonomy 120
6 Financial autonomy as local democratic space 135
7 Assigned tasks and tasks delivered 148
8 Legal regimes and local autonomy: the interaction of
administrative supervision and legal protection 163
9 Regional and local autonomy: comparing measurements of
decentralization 176
10 Pathways of access: configurations of formal and informal
channels 192
11 The impact of global crises on local autonomy 209
12 The European Charter of Local Self-Government and its
impact on local autonomy 222
13 Rapid changes in local autonomy: a race away from the
bottom or a fall from a great height? 239
14 The potential influences of local autonomy on local
government legitimacy 256
References 273
Appendix 284
About the Author :
The late Andreas Ladner, formerly Professor of Political Institutions and Public Administration, Swiss Graduate Institute of Public Administration (IDHEAP), University of Lausanne, Nicolas Keuffer, Senior Research Fellow, Alexander Bastianen, Research Assistant and PhD Candidate, Swiss Graduate Institute of Public Administration (IDHEAP), University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Harald Baldersheim, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway, Nikos Hlepas, Professor of Regional Administration and Self Government, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, Carmen Navarro, Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, Kristof Steyvers, Professor, Department of Political Science, Ghent University, Belgium and Paweł Swianiewicz, Professor of Local Government and Urban Economics, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Poland
Review :
‘Tackling this planet’s complex problems requires effective and legitimate local government, but how best to design it? Dynamics and Issues of Local Autonomy provides the most comprehensive systematic data source on local autonomy across 57 countries from 1990 to 2020. An indispensable resource for policy makers and scholars.’
‘Hard times is a scalar description that can cover a wide range of states of affairs, from the erosion of “rule of law” legal and institutional settings to new challenges for the judiciary, such as the supranational practice of judging or political and social polarisation. This book offers detailed and insightful analysis of specific judicial virtues (judicial courage, lawfulness, empathy, independence, deliberative skills, fidelity), useful to face many of those risky situations. The exploration of these and other virtues is pioneering, accurate and well contextualized and proves how judicial virtues are important resources for the practice of law.’
‘Dynamics and Issues of Local Autonomy: A Comparative Study provides fresh insights into local autonomy and offers important advances in its assessment and measurement. By refining its conceptualization and broadening its global relevance, this book will undoubtedly shape future research directions and developments in the field for years to come. I am confident that it represents a significant contribution to various disciplines, reaffirming the importance of the Local Autonomy Index, and of the authors' voice and influence in this area of study.’
