Epochal Transformations in Local Governance: Innovation, Quality and Capacity

Very few things are taken for given in local governance research nowadays, and Europe, in particular, has been watching profound changes in its local and regional governance structures. This permanent mutation has evolved into different political conformations and governance arrangements. Given this complex, diverse and a continuously changing context, local governments are living through an epochal transformation, with significant research impacts. It is not just a makeover: it is a profound, yet new, reshaping of structures, institutions, roles, competencies, borders and scale. As a consequence, researchers and practitioners need to rethink their agendas and initiatives. The way we see local self-government has changed significantly and requires us to be equipped with new epistemological gear, which needs to consider more variables and social functions of local government than before. Things that were taken for sure are no longer stable: competencies, multi-level governance, territories, formal borders, the way services are provided, access to citizens and vice-versa. Innovation, reshaping and reframing could better explain today's context of local governance than any other word in the dictionary. This Section aims at exploring the state of contemporary local government and democracy, the new forms it is taking and how challenges are addressed. There is already a huge interest in the Section, showing the relevance of the theme. We expect more than 8 Panels within this Section. We will make a selection according to the number of slots approved by the ECPR. We particularly welcome Panels with comparative studies either nationally or internationally, as well as theoretically or methodologically innovative Papers. Up to now several Standing Group members have already indicated their willingness to organize Panels (the abstracts we present below are a short version of the detailed information we received from all Chairs): A first set of Panels deals with Innovation: Democratic Innovations and Local Representative Democracy Angelika Vetter, University of Stuttgart; Brigitte Geissel, University of Frankfurt Do we find effects from democratic innovations on local representative democracy (e.g. local turnout, local parties, local political responsiveness …)? Within the ECPR both the Standing Group on Democratic Innovations and the Standing Group on Local Government and Politics are dealing with the question outlined. This Panel wants to bring together researchers from the two Standing Groups in order to discuss the research question from different backgrounds. City Labs for Learning Linze Schaap, Tilburg University In many cities and regions, ‘Labs’ are being organized for various reasons. Labs may be organized to test new kinds of governance or citizen involvement, or to stimulate creative and/or innovative think and problem solving. What different kinds of labs, and lab methodology, can we distinguish? How do present day labs relate to learning theories? How effective are Labs, and what exactly are the Labs' results? A second set deals with Quality in local governance: Quality Management in Local Public Services. Carmen Navarro, AU Madrid; Jasmina Džinić, University of Zagreb. The Panel will explore change and innovation in the implementation of special tools designed and developed in order to improve the quality of local services. It will address questions such as: What type of quality management models are applied in municipalities? What are the incentives for their introduction and enablers for the implementation? What are the internal and external effects of their implementation? It will welcome mainly empirical contributions. Assessing the Quality of Local Governance Luís de Sousa, University Lisbon; Nuno Cruz, LSE. This Panels purpose is to map and discuss the conceptual, theoretical and methodological advancements in diagnosing and measuring quality of local governance. We are also looking for innovative contributions that combine different disciplinary traditions and make an overview of the qualitative and quantitative methods and techniques for assessing QoLG. A third set deals with Reforms and Governance Capacity: Cross-level reform dynamics in amalgamation reforms Jacob Aars, University of Bergen; Jan Erling Klausen, University of Oslo This Panel aims at contributing to the knowledge about amalgamation reforms in Europe and specifically, the dynamics between central-level reform tools and local-level processes. We are interested in Papers that take both the central and the local perspective, but mainly Papers that focus on how reform processes at these two levels interact. Intermunicipal Cooperation in Europe: in search of governance capacity Pawel Swianiewicz, Warsaw University; Filipe Teles, University of Aveiro The governance capacity of intermunicipal arrangements is more than just the ability to efficiently deliver services at a different but coordinated scale. The questions that remain to be answered related to efficiency, democracy and stability of these arrangements are inherently linked to ongoing debates about how polities should be governed. This Panel explores IMC and its political and economic capacity. Consequences of territorial local government reforms Kurt Houlberg. KORA, Danish Institute for Local and Regional Government; Jostein Rosfjord Askim. University of Oslo. Reforms have redrawn the map of local government, often motivated by expectations of economies of scale by merging smaller units to larger ones. For such a widespread phenomenon, territorial local government reforms have undergone surprisingly little systematic evaluation. In this Panel, consequences are discussed in a series of Papers analyzing economic and democratic consequences in specific European countries and/or comparing the consequences across countries. The Dynamics of Local Autonomy Harald Baldersheim, University of Oslo; Andreas Ladner, University of Lausanne Local autonomy remains under-explored. The Panel invites Papers dealing with conceptual approaches to local autonomy as well as ideas on empirical measures of autonomy in comparative perspective. The Panel is also open to Papers on explanatory models of local autonomy as well as studies on consequences of autonomy, e.g. how it may influence citizen attitudes to or participation in local politics. Sub-municipal units in Europe Nikolaos-Komninos Hlepas, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens This Panel can take advantage from ongoing comparative publication projects and empirical studies in different countries, dealing with various aspects of sub-municipal governance that remained, till recently, a rather under-explored topic. This Panel aims at exploring the state of contemporary sub-municipal governance. Papers will deal with the changes that have been taking place and will provide room for both empirical and more theoretically oriented Papers.