Local Government as a Democratic and Functional Space: Governance, Complexity, and Uncertainty

Local government is at the same time a space for democracy and a functional space, where services, tasks and responsibilities are performed. This requires a balancing act between the democratic and functional facets, as expressed in the democracy-efficiency debate. This is further complicated by the emergence of collaborative and community governance, with all its complexities and uncertainties. The democratic facet of local government traditionally unfolds in political parties, local elections, local leadership and participatory mechanisms. However, in the age of governance, the political side of local government comes in a package with the blurring of boundaries and responsibilities for local issues and the autonomous self-governing of networks of actors. Top-down and bottom-up forces are at work at the same time. The functional side of local government unfolds in policy-making and service delivery aspects taking place in inter-governmental settings, as local governments around the world have increasingly encountered public policy challenges spanning across multiple jurisdictions. Debates on local autonomy and central-local relations, size vs. efficiency, privatisation vs. re-municipalization, and the use of governance-oriented mechanisms such as inter-municipal cooperation are present in both academic and practitioners’ circles. Looking at all these aspects some key questions arise. How is local government performing as a space for democracy and democratic innovation? What is the current relation between local representative democracy and participatory and deliberative forms of democratic practice? How are variations of democratic practice within the same national context manifesting themselves? What is the current shape of local politics? How are shifts on the functional side of local government changing local democracy? Where does this leave us on the democracy-efficiency debate? This section is particularly interested in these issues, but it is also open to other topics pertaining to the comparative study of local democracy, politics, government, and governance. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method studies with proven or potential capability to advance the state of research in the field will be considered for selection. Comparative articles are encouraged, but theoretical and country-specific empirical approaches are also welcome.