Nearly all Western and Central European local government systems have been reformed since the 1990's. Taking into account variations in historical and national context, the book looks for different ways of local government reform, their emphases and their divergent trajectories.

Autorentext
Dr. Angelika Vetter, akademische Rätin, Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Abteilung für Politikwissenschaft, Universität Stuttgart. Professor Dr. Norbert Kersting lehrt Politikwissenschaft am Department of Political Science, University of Stellenbosch, Southafrica.

Inhalt
Democracy versus efficiency? Comparing local government reforms across Europe.- Local government reforms in the Nordic countries. Bringing politics back in?.- Local government reform in Great Britain.- A new role for municipal councils in Dutch local democracy?.- German local government under the double impact of democratic and administrative reforms.- Cities and municipalities in the Austrian political system since the 1990s. New developments between efficiency and democracy.- Local government reform in Switzerland. More for than by but what about of?.- The French Republic, one yet divisible?.- Subsidiarity: fall or premise of local government reforms. The Italian case.- Twenty-five years of democratic local government in Spain.- Local government reform in Greece.- Local government reforms and the capacity for local governance in Hungary.- Thirteen years of reforming sub-national government in the Czech Republic.- Reforming local government in Poland. Top-down and bottom-up processes.- Local government reform in the Baltic countries.- Reforming local government. Heading for efficiency and democracy.