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Conclusions: Intergovernmental Networks and Decentralisation in Europe

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The Palgrave Handbook of Decentralisation in Europe

Abstract

Decentralisation has been justified as a tool for democratic improvement and political stability, an instrument to improve efficiency, a means of managing heterogeneous societies or a guarantee for territorial and social cohesion. However, sometimes the practice of decentralisation leads to mismanagement, corruption, clientelism and lack of policy coherence, among other negative side effects. What is essential to decentralisation is not the transfer of functions and resources from higher to lower levels of government, but the relationship of interdependence between them in the sense that each level can, to some extent, condition the functioning of the others. The reasons to decentralise can be political or technical, and its development can result in opportunities and threats, benefits and risks.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Germany, Austria and Belgium are the only three federations in the EU. Russia, Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina are the other three federations located in Europe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Madrid, Spain

    José M. Ruano & Marius Profiroiu

  2. (NISPAcee, Bucharest, Romania

    José M. Ruano

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  1. José M. Ruano
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  2. Marius Profiroiu
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Correspondence to José M. Ruano .

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  1. The Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    José Manuel Ruano

  2. Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

    Marius Profiroiu

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Ruano, J.M., Profiroiu, M. (2017). Conclusions: Intergovernmental Networks and Decentralisation in Europe. In: Ruano, J., Profiroiu, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Decentralisation in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32437-1_18

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