Björn Egner & Hubert Heinelt 
Perspectives on Local Governance Across Europe 
Insights on Local State-Society Relations

This book focuses on local state-society relations, understood as institutionalised relations between local municipalities across Europe and individual, collective or corporate societal actors. It presents a typology of local state-society relations, and applies this to characterise the most relevant institutionalised relations between local government and societal actors at the municipal level in 22 European countries. The comparative volume will clarify whether or not patterns can be detected in the makeup of different types of networks; whether or not these patterns are country-specific or policy-specific; and why cases exist which are so distinct that they are not subsumable under a certain pattern. Taken together, this book will go beyond national typologies to emphasise the role of agency and innovation in particular policy sectors, providing a major contribution in the study of the local governance of Europe. It will appeal to scholars and students of local governance, public administration, urban planning and European studies.

Table of Content

1. Introduction.- Part I: Theoretical Considerations.- 2. Country variations in networks between municipalities and civil society Anders Lidström.- 3. European local politics: coherence, autonomy, relevance Filipe Teles.- Part II: Comparative Empirical Findings: Power, Authority, Participation and Democracy.- 4. Power to rule: The perception of power and relevance in local state-society networks in Europe Grétar Thór Eythórsson & Eva Marín Hlynsdóttir.- 5. Depoliticizing Policy Making: Do formal Governance Networks silence dissenting voices or provide opportunities for change? Paula Russell.- 6. The notion of democracy among societal actors involved in locals state-society relations Hubert Heinelt & Adam Gendźwiłł.- 7. Between ideology and cooperation: How local politicians perceive their role in state-society relations Björn Egner.- 8. New governance tools at the local level: civil society between local political leaders and the needs of local society Ivan Koprić, Dubravka Jurlina Alibegović, Romea Manojlović Toman, Dario Čepo & Sunčana Slijepčević.- 9. Does Metagovernance Matter? The Nature and Effects of Network Participation by Local Politicians in Local State-Society Relations in Europe Tom Verhelst & Koenraad De Ceuninck.- 10. Partnership in the shadow of hierarchy:  the role of municipal authorities in local governance networks Joanna Krukowska & Marta Lackowska.- 11. The democratic quality of non-electoral representation through local state-society relations Karin Fossheim & Hans Vollaard.- 12. Legitimacy claims of societal actors involved in locals state-society relations Deborah Galimberti & Hubert Heinelt.- Part III: Policies and Politics Of Networks.- 13. The unbearable lightness of coherence within local governance arrangements Patrícia Silva & Filipe Teles.- 14. Participation without influence? Perceived influence amongst societal actors representing elderly people and people with disabilities David Feltenius & Linnéa Henrikssons.- 15. Influental European Youth? Linnéa Henriksson & Janette Huttunen.- 16. Organised business and unions in local governance Deborah Galimberti & Detlef Sack.- 17. Patterns of network relevance in local policies Carmen Navarro & Lluis Medir.- 18. Local actions groups and inter-municipal cooperation Alistair Jones, Colin Copus, Jakub Lysek & Joanna Krukowska.- Part IV: Regional and Territorial Differences of Local State-Society Relations.- 19. Many advisory councils at the municipal level: do they add value for participation? Iveta Reinholde, Inese Āboliņa & Malvīne Stučka.- 20. Which networks for which territories Annick Magnier & Marcello Cabria.- 21. The prevalence of low-relevance networks in Central Eastern Europe and the post-communist legacy Jurga Bucaite-Vilke, Jakub Lysek,  Dan Rysavy & Aiste Lazauskiene.- 22. Networks between local government and civil society and the arbitrary and idiosyncratic nature of network membership Alistair Jones & Colin Copus.

About the author

Björn Egner is Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Political Science, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. His research interests include local politics, housing policy and fiscal policy.
Hubert Heinelt is Professor of Public Administration, Public Policy and Urban Research at the Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. Between 2010 and 2013 he was President of the European Urban Research Association.
Jakub Lysek is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic. His research interests include local politics and electoral behaviour.
Patrícia Silva is Assistant Professor in the Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences at the University of Aveiro, Portugal.  Her research interests include political parties, public administration, and local governance.
Filipe Teles is Pro-Rector for Regional Development and Urban Policies at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. His research interests include governance, local administration, territorial reform and political leadership.