Explores the main challenge of local politics in Europe

Focuses on analysing the most recent developments in local democracy and government

Uses case studies from Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, and Switzerland

1 The Essence and Transformation of Local Self-Government in Western Europe.- Part I The Essence of Local Self-Government.- 2 The Future of Local Democracy: A Somewhat Dystopian View.- 3 Beyond Charter and Index: Reassessing Local Autonomy.- 4 Redefining Local Self-Government: Finnish Municipalities Seeking Their Essence.- 5 Local Autonomy in the Nordic Countries: Between a Rock and a Hard Place.- 6 Local Self-Government and the Choice for Local Governance Arrangements in Nine Swiss Municipal Tasks.- 7 Chasing the Creative Class: What Works, and What Doesn't? Recruitment Strategies in Norwegian Local Government.- Part II Challenges and Transformations: Digitalisation, Marketisation, Amalgamation.- 8 The Digitalisation of Local Public Services. Evidence from the German Case.- 9 Challenges of Digital Service Provision for Local Governments from the Citizens' View: Comparing Citizens' Expectations and Their Experiences of Digital Service Provision.- 10 The Resistance Threshold to the Amalgamation of Jurisdictions: MP's Attitudes About Budget Control and Social Identification in the Swiss Cantons.- 11 County Size and County Council Mandate: Decreasing Motivation Due to Longer Distances?.- 12 Where Is Municipal Marketisation Heading? Experiences from England and Scandinavia.- Part III Changing Intergovernmental Relations: Supervision and Subnational Policy-making.- 13 Decentralisation and Reconfiguration of Multilevel Research Policy: The Case of Sweden.- 14 The Impact of Local Autonomy on Land-Use Planning: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Two Swiss Municipalities.- 15 City-Regional Governance in Flanders: The Potential of Mobility Regions as a Critical Juncture.- 16 Strategic Policy Planning at the Local Level: A Flemish Performance Starring Regional Government.- 17 State Supervision of Local Budgets: From Forbearance to No Concession.- 18 New Ways of Limiting Local Government Debt: An Empirical Assessment of the German Case.- 19 Reforms of School Supervision in the German Länder: Converging School Supervision Structures?.- Part IV Future Outlook and Scenarios.- 20 Future Outlook and Scenarios.