The book assesses the democratization and marketization in the Visegrad states. It analyses the effectiveness of these emerging government structures at a regional and local level in terms of competencies and resources, makes comparisons with West European experiences at this level, and examines the role of external factors, especially the EU and international financial organisations, in the development of sub-national authorities in these countries.

Autorentext

NICHOLAS BERNARD Lecturer in the Department of Law at the University of Essex THOMAS CHRISTIANSEN Jean Monnet Lecturer and Director of European Studies in the Department of International Politics at the University of Wales Aberystwyth LUBOMIR FALTAN Senior Researcher and Director of Institute of Sociology, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava ANNA ZIELINSKA-GLEBOCKA Professor in Economics at the University of Gdansk and Jean Monnet Chair in European Economic Integration JOZEF HEGEDUS Director of the Metropolital Research Institute in Budapest ANDRZEJ KOWALCZYK Lecturer in the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies at the University of Warsaw VLADIMIR KRIVY Senior Fellow Researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava JAMES SPERLING Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Akron JACEK ZAUCHA Associate Professor in the Department of Macroeconomics at the University of Gdansk

Inhalt

List of Figures and Tables List of Contributors Preface Abbreviations The Importance of Local and Regional Reform; E.Kirchner and T.Christiansen Regionalization in Western Europe; T.Christiansen Decentralized Government and Subsidiarity; N.Bernard Regional and Local Development in Poland; J.Zaucha Territorial Government in the Czech Republic; M.Illner Slovakia: Changes in Public Administration; L.Faltan and V.Krivy Hungarian Local Government; J.Hegedus Euroregions on the Polish German Border; A.Kowalczyk Poland and the EU: Trade-related Problems; A.Zielinska-Glebocka European Security and Debt Finance in Poland; J.Sperling The Role of the EU in Local and Regional Government; E.Kirchner Index