Local Government and Politics: Mapping Challenges and Prospects

The on-going debate on local autonomy and the distribution of power within multi-level political systems is frequently fueled by the worries of re-centralization, but also concerns of the accessibility and quality of public services delivered at the local level. One of the challenges is the search for the optimal scale of local government, assuring satisfactory tax-service package on the one hand and proximity, high political efficacy and civic involvement on the other. In response to this challenge, a seemingly stable map of European local governments has been changing substantially in the recent decade. Researchers documented the revival of amalgamation reforms in many countries, tracing their impacts on local democracy and economic performance. Local governments experiment with various modes of service delivery which change the relations between local authorities and citizens/consumers. Researchers focus on the political economy of these new modes, tracing causes and consequences of privatization, re-municipalization, and collaborative modes. New types of institutional arrangements for metropolitan governance and inter-municipal cooperation emerge, bringing to the research agenda important questions on the efficiency, quality of representation, and democratic accountability of these new arrangements. In addition, a combination of old and new issues integrate local policy agendas nowadays. Local governments continue dealing with traditional planning, security, mobility, social, health, and education, among other policy fields. At the same time, global processes and new wicked problems impact at the municipal level as well as making governments’ agendas more complex. Climate change, energy transition, immigrants integration, mega-cities growth or rural shrinking municipalities are some of the new challenges local government faces. This brief overview of the challenges facing local government raises questions: What is the current shape of local politics? To what extent is it shaped by the external pressures? What are the prospects for local democracy – both for its well-institutionalized electoral-representative subsystem and for democratic innovations? How do local governments perform in delivering public services? What are the main policy challenges for local governments? How are they designing and implementing local policies for old and new issues? Where are the current spaces for innovation? This preliminary list of research questions is open to other topics related to the broad area of local government studies. Our aim is to attract the Papers addressing the gaps in the existing approaches, delivering new evidence and setting the agenda for future research. We encourage comparative Papers, yet purely theoretical contributions, as well as case studies are also welcome. A tentative list of Panels: 1. Local democratic innovations and local representative democracy Chairs: Angelika Vetter (University of Stuttgart), Jan Erling Klausen and Signy Vabo (University of Oslo) Democratic innovations in local government - as diverse as they are (participatory budgeting, mini-publics, or other deliberative experiments) - are currently under way in many countries. In this panel, we want to focus on the relationship between these "new" forms of citizen participation in local politics and different aspects of local representative democracy (politics, policies, and polities). 2. Climate change and energy transition: The role of local government Chair: Gro Sandkjær Hanssen, (OsloMet, Norway) Today, many cities and municipalities are developing more radical climate policies, in spite of reluctant national authorities. This panel will discuss the role of local government in the green shift towards a more carbon-free society, and present how this role is played out in different countries. 3. Local political leaders under pressure - networked governance in Europe Chair: Filipe Teles (University of Aveiro) Contemporary local governance has put significant pressure of the traditional forms and mechanisms of leadership. Network coordination, accountability and leader-follower relations are not only classical aspects of local politics and governance research but also high on the contemporary research agenda. This panel welcomes both theoretical and empirical Papers addressing the topics of local leadership and local elites. 4. The politics of metropolitan governance: the political dimensions of territorial reforms in city regions Chairs: Daniel Kubler (University of Zurich) and Michael Strebel (University of Lausanne) The debate on the organization of governance in city-regions predominantly tends to discuss metropolitan governance arrangements in terms of policy-making processes or public service delivery. Instead, this panel seeks to draw attention to the ‘politics’-side of metropolitan governance, i.e. power struggles, political contention and mobilization related to the governance of city-regions. 5. Populist governance in regional and local government Chairs: Esther Pano and Lluis Medir (University of Barcelona) In the last years, populist parties have achieved relevance both in terms of political discourse and governmental power. In this panel, we would like to discuss the impact of the participation of these parties in local governments and institutional structures. 6. Whose Game are We Playing? Institutions and Local Service Delivery Choices Chair: Antonio Tavares (University of Minho) D. North defined institutions as any form of constraint that humans devise to shape human interaction. This panel seeks to explore how the variation in formal institutions (i.e. laws and rules) and informal institutions (i.e. norms, guidelines, or codes of conduct) influences service delivery choices by local decision-makers. 7. Taking stock of local and regional election surveys: What is specific about sub-national voting? (co-sponsored by the SG on Federalism and Regionalism) Chair: Bas Denters (University of Twente) National election surveys have dominated election research for many decades but since the 1990s the number of surveys held for local and regional elections has increased considerably. The objective of this panel is to share findings based on election survey data that reveal local and/or regional specific electoral dynamics that is uncommon or not present at other territorial levels. 8: Taking stock of surveys among subnational representatives I: How do role perceptions differ between sub-national and national representatives? (co-sponsored by the SG on Federalism and Regionalism) Chair: Giedo Jansen (University of Twente) Since the 2000s, a significant number of surveys among representatives from local and regional governments has been accumulated. The objective of this panel is to share findings based on survey data among elected representatives at all territorial levels and to discuss how, when, and where role perceptions are different among these representatives.