Local Government Resilience and Institutional Adaptation in Europe’s Shifting Landscape

The past years have demonstrated the fundamental role of European local governments as they confront a continuous wave of reform, crises, and profound global shifts. While national politics often bear the main burden, municipalities are the primary level of social organization where these challenges—ranging from climate change and migration to economic instability and the populist turn—manifest directly at the community level. This critical environment necessitates continuous re-institutionalisation processes, often disturbing the traditional balance in local politics and eroding longstanding path-dependencies. This section invites research exploring how local authorities navigate and respond to this intricate multi-level governance framework, where local, regional, national, and supranational authorities intersect. Local governments are essential players who must negotiate responsibilities and resources with higher levels of governance, frequently engaging in cross-border and transnational cooperation to address global issues. The panels in this section scrutinize the capacity of municipalities to act as effective agents of change and accommodate these external pressures, considering how they implement practical responses such as climate resilience strategies, managing migration flows, and addressing economic inequalities. Furthermore, papers addressing the less exposed dimension of local leadership are encouraged, focusing on how mayors and councillors deal with the radical uncertainty inherent in crisis management and rapid change. A central focus remains the institutional health and democratic integrity of local governance. The continuous wave of reform has led to a broad patchwork of new formal structures and informal mechanisms, norms, rules, and processes which organize life in local communities. We seek papers that discuss the consequences of these institutional changes for the democratic and functional operation of contemporary local governance, addressing core dimensions like the functioning of local council, the role of the mayor, top managers and administrative organization, and civil society. Presentations are encouraged on traditional concepts such as scale, scope, and finance, alongside newer notions like technological revolution and feminization. Finally, amid growing public dissatisfaction and polarization, the question of democratic revitalization is paramount. We seek papers addressing how local authorities maintain democratic engagement, exploring topics like local elections, citizen participation, and innovations in democratic processes such as citizen’s juries or participatory budgeting. This includes assessing the adaptability of local democracy in addressing the particular needs of diverse and marginalized communities. By drawing on subfields such as comparative politics, political economy, public policy, and urban studies, this section aims to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue on the future of local governance. Panels: 1. Institutional Adaptation and Territorial Reforms Local governments across Europe face cycles of territorial reform and mergers intended to enhance efficiency, equity, and legitimacy. This panel invites comparative papers exploring how these reforms reshape governance structures, local autonomy, and the balance between responsiveness and administrative capacity. Chair: Antonio Tavares. Co-chair: Gissur Erlingsson 2. Multi-Level Governance, Fiscal Constraints, and Resource Negotiation The focus on this panel is on how local authorities navigate the complex multi-level governance system negotiate responsibilities and resources with higher levels, and manage fiscal constraints Chair: Carmen Navarro Gomez 3. Climate transition capacity at local level – (how) does size matter? Local government are key actors to act upon climate change – both in reducing emissions and adapting to climate changes. However, their ability to act differ – and we see a wide variety when it comes to transition capacity. The panel scrutinizes how size matters, if there is an ideal size, and what types of local leadership that strengthens transition capacity. Chair: Gro Sandkjær Hanssen. Co-chair: Peter Eckersley 4. Local government as player in governance networks for climate transition Climate transition challenge traditional hierarchical structures, as a “wicked problem” that must be handled by a range of actors representing different sector authorities, governmental layers, private businesses and civil society. The panel illuminates how local authorities navigate and act as “player” in this multi-actor- and multi-level governance landscape, and the type of local leadership that is needed – as the “players” must also ensure legitimacy among their citizenries. Chair: Katarzyna Szmigiel-Rawska 5. Democratic Innovation, Citizen Participation, and Democratic Revitalization from a local perspective (1) This panel explores how democratic innovations and citizen-politician interaction can revitalize local democracy and enhance the legitimacy of local representative institutions. The panel is to be co-organized with the SG on Democratic innovations Chair: Jurga Bučaitė-Vilkė 6. Democratic Innovation, Citizen Participation, and Democratic Revitalization from a local perspective (2) This panel explores how democratic innovations and citizen-politician interaction can revitalize local democracy and enhance the legitimacy of local representative institutions. The panel is organized to expand the number of presentations for panel 5, due to high interest. Chair: Signy Irene Vabo 7. Advancing Deliberation in Local Governance The panel explores connections between deliberative forums and representative democracy. It invites theoretical and empirical papers on these couplings in local government contexts. Chair: Asbjørn Røiseland 8. New Patterns of Voting Behavior, Political Polarization, and Populism in Local Politics Examining how the populist turn, shifts in the national political landscape, and institutional reforms shape the health of local democracy, with a focus on representation, local parties, and electoral outcomes. Chair: Adam Gendzwill 9. The return of the urban-rural divide This panel aims to advance the research in local governance and administration in Europe, and welcomes papers that address theoretical and empirical debates on the challenges of governing shrinking places in rural and depopulated areas, as well as modernization and reforms dealing with the urban-rural divide, new political cleavages, and local government capacity. Chair: Filipe Teles 10. Local and regional capacity This panel advances the scholarship on policy capacity and governance capacity at local and regional levels, addressing calls to 'localise' international agendas, develop 'place-based' responses to complex policy and governance challenges and build more effective intergovernmental relations. Chair: Timea Nochta