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Reforming Local Councils and the Role of Councillors: A Comparative Analysis of Fifteen European Countries

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Local Public Sector Reforms in Times of Crisis

Part of the book series: Governance and Public Management ((GPM))

Abstract

Council-based representative democracy is under challenge in most European countries. This chapter explores whether attempts to restore and improve conditions for the council and the councilors are related to the extent that local government is legitimate in different countries. Local government legitimacy requires the consent of both the state and the citizens. The analysis, based on data from 15 European countries, suggests that reform activities are highest and the content of the reforms are the most developed in countries where local government enjoys support from both the state and the citizens. Where one or both of these requirements are missing, and in particular in countries hit by the financial crisis, direct means of democracy rather than those strengthening representative democracy tend to preferred.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Anders Lidström

  2. Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Harald Baldersheim

  3. Department of Politics and Public Policy, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    Colin Copus

  4. Faculty of Political Science, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Eva Marín Hlynsdóttir

  5. Faculty of Social Sciences, Business and Economics, Turku, Finland

    Pekka Kettunen

  6. Institute of Public Policy, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Daniel Klimovský

Authors
  1. Anders Lidström
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  2. Harald Baldersheim
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  3. Colin Copus
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  4. Eva Marín Hlynsdóttir
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  5. Pekka Kettunen
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  6. Daniel Klimovský
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Political Science, Administration and Organization, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Sabine Kuhlmann

  2. Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven Public Governance Institute, Leuven, Belgium

    Geert Bouckaert

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Lidström, A., Baldersheim, H., Copus, C., Hlynsdóttir, E.M., Kettunen, P., Klimovský, D. (2016). Reforming Local Councils and the Role of Councillors: A Comparative Analysis of Fifteen European Countries. In: Kuhlmann, S., Bouckaert, G. (eds) Local Public Sector Reforms in Times of Crisis. Governance and Public Management. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52548-2_16

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