Local Government and Politics

About

The ECPR Standing Group on Local Government and Politics promotes research among European and other scholars in the field of local politics, democracy, governance and administration. The Standing Group has a particular interest in supporting comparative research. It functions as a network of scholars and PhD students but also welcomes practitioners interested in research in the field. It endorses Sections and Panels at ECPR General Conferences and workshops at the Joint Sessions, provides information about upcoming conferences and other events, and reports on new publications. The Standing Group also endorses an annual Summer School for doctoral students on local government and politics.

Aims & Objectives

The aims and objectives of the Standing Group on Local Government and Politics are to:

• Contribute to the development of the comparative study of local government and politics;
• Establish, develop and maintain an international network of researchers in the field of local government and politics;
• Develop links between senior teachers and researchers and PhD-students who work with the same kind of research questions;
• Develop specialized courses for PhD-students who follow programs in the field of local government and politics studies or whose research and thesis fall within that field;
• Endorse the EUROLOC Summer School in Local Government and Politics as an external event.

Activities

Summer School 2021

We are happy to maintain the collaboration between the Standing Group on Local Government and Politics (ECPR) and the European Urban Research Association (EURA) to endorse this year’s Summer School, organized by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece) and the Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany).

The 2021 edition – ‘Local government in motion – Local innovation in changing contexts’ – will be held in Chania, Crete, Greece (from September 13 to 16, 2021). Course directors are Prof. Nikos Hlepas and Prof. Björn Egner. To the extent COVID-19 allows and subject to potential change, the summer school is held as a physical event.

It is one of the long-lasting series of summer courses for PhD-students interested in local government and politics issues. It gives an opportunity to develop a further understanding of comparative local government studies and to discuss PhD-related research with an experienced international faculty of different disciplines. The Summer School is also an excellent opportunity to build, deepen or widen networks with scholars working on similar topics in the field.

For further information on the year’s edition, please refer to the message sent out via our newsletter (9 October 2020).