Lijphart goes regional: a comparative study of regional representative democracies in Europe (original) (raw)
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Regional Studies, 2013
ABSTRACT Bäck H., Debus M., Müller J. and Bäck H. Regional government formation in varying multilevel contexts: a comparison of eight European countries, Regional Studies. Although governance in multilevel settings has become a prominent research field in political science, there are few comparative studies that focus on explaining sub-national coalition outcomes in such settings. This paper sets out to study regional government formation in eight European countries and it builds on a dataset that covers information on the policy preferences of parties drawn from regional election manifestos. The results show that parties at the regional level are likely to form congruent coalitions, that is, ‘copying’ the patterns of national government formation, and that they are more likely to do so in specific regional contexts.Bäck H., Debus M., Müller J. and Bäck H. “” Bäck H., Debus M., Müller J. et Bäck H. La formation de la gouvernance régionale dans divers contextes multiniveaux: une comparaison de huit pays européens, Regional Studies. Bien que la gouvernance multiniveaux soit devenue une filière importante de la science politique, rares sont les études comparatives qui visent principalement à expliquer les résultats des coalitions établies à l'échelon infranational dans de tels contextes. L'article cherche à étudier la formation de la gouvernance régionale dans huit pays européens et se fonde sur un ensemble de données qui capte des informations sur les préférences politiques des partis puisées dans leurs manifestes aux élections régionales. Les résultats laissent voir que les partis sont susceptibles sur le plan régional de constituer des coalitions harmonisées, c'est-à-dire ‘copier’ des modèles de gouvernance au niveau national, et qu'ils sont plus susceptibles de le faire dans des contextes régionaux spécifiques.Formation de la gouvernance Théories sur la création des coalitions Systèmes multiniveaux Analyse du contenu des documents de politique générale Collectivité régionaleBäck H., Debus M., Müller J. und Bäck H. Regionale Regierungsbildung in institutionell variierenden Mehrebenensystemen: ein Vergleich acht europäischer Staaten, Regional Studies. Obwohl das Regieren in Mehrebenensystemen mittlerweile ein zentrales Forschungsgebiet der Politikwissenschaft ist, liegen bislang nur wenige vergleichende Studien zur Regierungsbildung in diesem Kontext vor. Im vorliegenden Beitrag analysieren wir die Regierungsbildung in den Regionen acht europäischer Staaten. Dabei greifen wir auf einen Datensatz zurück, der die Policy-Positionen regionaler Parteien sowie die Eigenschaften der potentiell möglichen Regierungen umfasst. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Parteien dazu neigen, über die Ebenen hinweg parteipolitisch kongruente Koalitionen zu bilden. Zudem haben die programmatischen Positionen der regionalen Parteien und die institutionell vorgegebenen Kompetenzen regionaler Regierungen einen Einfluss auf das Ergebnis des Regierungsbildungsprozesses.Regierungsbildung Koalitionstheorien Mehrebenensysteme Inhaltsanalyse programmatischer Dokumente Regionale AutoritätBäck H., Debus M., Müller J. y Bäck H. Formación de gobiernos regionales en diferentes contextos de varios niveles: una comparación entre ocho países europeos, Regional Studies. Aunque la gobernanza en entornos de varios niveles se ha convertido en un destacado campo de investigación en ciencias políticas, existen poco estudios comparativos sobre los resultados de una coalición subnacional en tales entornos. La finalidad de este artículo es estudiar la formación de gobiernos regionales en ocho países europeos a partir de un grupo de datos que abarquen la información sobre las preferencias políticas de los partidos extraídas de los programas electorales regionales. Los resultados indican que los partidos de ámbito regional tienden a formar coaliciones congruentes, es decir, ‘copiando’ los modelos de la formación del gobierno nacional, y suelen hacerlo en contextos regionales específicos.Formación de gobierno Teorías de coalición Sistemas de varios niveles Análisis de contenido de documentos políticos Autoridad regional
Challenges of Democracy in the 21st Century. Concepts, Methods, Causality and the Quality of Democracy, 2018
This chapter develops specific methodological and analytical instruments for evaluating how democratic regions have developed different institutional structures and how these variations can impact on their public policy capabilities. It applies Arend Lijphart's analytical approach to regional political systems of federal and decentralized countries in Western Europe. The chapter develops research design for assessing to what extent regional institutions and processes vary within countries and across countries and, to what extent regional institutions correspond to the 'majoritarian versus consensus' model elaborated by Lijphart almost two decades ago. It overcomes nation-centric bias in mainstream research on quality of democracy by integrating existing scholarship on democratic governance with tailored research designs aimed at measuring democratic quality in multilevel systems. The chapter discusses the regional dimension of assessment of democratic performance of contemporary political regimes. It elaborates original research design that analyses the cross-time, cross-section interplay between sub-national, national or even supranational systems of governance, to examine causes and effects in interregional variation.
Regions and the Dynamics of Political Space
In the shadow of a French national narrative which demonises and rejects local specificities, highly differentiated territorial political spaces have been created, shaped by the dynamics of identity, decentralisation, and public policy. This book analyses regions as loose and flexible political spaces, in which institutionalisation is far from being a one-way process. A variety of actors contribute to the upward, downward and horizontal dynamics which make up these spaces. Institutionalising regional space comprises three dimensions: institutionalisation as a result of cultural, social and political mobilisation; via the implementation of policies for territorial justice and decentralisation; and finally via the deployment of a system of regional governance. This analysis of regional power in France paints a picture of a controversial central state undergoing fundamental changes, and of a decentralised republic at a crossroads. It is essential reading for students and researchers working on issues of territorial governance and decentralisation in France and more widely in Europe.
La política regional: pilar del proceso de integración europea
Revista de Fomento …, 1999
La Unión Europea se ha ido construyendo paso a paso, la evolución de la política regional pone de manifiesto este proceso. El presente artículo trata de analizar cómo se han ido produciendo estos cambios en objetivos, diseño y aplicación. Cambios que han permitido hacer de ...
Introduction: Territoriality of the Vote: A Framework for Analysis
Regional and National Elections in Western Europe, 2013
Over the last 40 years the institutional landscape in Western Europe has changed considerably. One of the most notable transformations of the state concerns processes of decentralization, federalization and regionalization. This development is well documented by the regional authority index (RAI) developed by Hooghe, Marks and Schakel (2010). For the 13 Western European countries which are the subject of research in this book, they observe that each of them underwent regional reform except for the Swiss cantons and the Faroe Islands. Not only has the authority exercised by regional governments increased but the biggest driver of this growth of regional authority has been the proliferation of elected institutions at the regional level (Marks et al., 2010). Indeed, regional elections have been introduced in various countries at various times in Western Europe. Following the Second World War, regional elections have been held since 1945 for Austrian and German Länder, the Faroe Islands in Denmark, regioni a statuto speciale in Italy, Dutch provincies, Swedish län, Swiss cantons and Northern Ireland in the UK. Direct elections were introduced in the 1970s in the Deutsche Gemeinschaft in Belgium, Danish amter and Greenland, regioni a statuto ordinario in Italy and Norwegian fylker. During the 1980s, French régions and Spanish comunidades autónomas followed, and in the 1990s, elections were introduced for gemeenschappen and gewesten in Belgium, Greek nomoi, and London, Scotland and Wales in the UK. Clearly, regional elections are on the rise. We now have more regional elections in Western Europe than ever before and their importance has increased significantly as well.
This paper unpacks the diverse ways in which substate parties responded to, interpreted, and used the imagery of a 'Europe of the Regions' to advance their claims for autonomy. Changes in state and European structures have led to a greater emphasis on territorial interests and identities and in response, parties have been forced to take a position on how they want their territory to fit into the newly emerging European order. However, parties have not taken consistent positions on Europe. Rather, they have exhibited a cyclical quality, moving back and forth on Europe. This is due to a combination of local and statewide factors. But their positions also changed over time, in response to perceived opportunities for regional action in Europe. Whilst many substate parties were cautious of Europe in the late 1970s, by the early 1990s parties enthusiastically supported autonomy in a 'Europe of the Regions'. This goal won support across the political spectrum, causing independence-seeking parties to moderate their claims and regional branches of statewide parties to strengthen their territorial demands. However, the convergence of autonomy goals was not to last: it soon gave way to doubt and concern as regional interests were repeatedly ignored in Europe. Parties began to change tactics in the late 1990s, with many reverting back to previous goals or adopting more Eurosceptical positions. This raises the question of how 'Europeanised' parties are, and forces us to re-think how parties understood European integration in the first place. The Europe of the Regions debate is reviewed here through the study of three substate territories -Scotland, Bavaria and Sardinia -over a period of a quarter century. It examines how the imagery of a Europe of the Regions was used to support a variety of party goals, ranging from independence, to accessing European structural funds, to rolling back European competences.
This paper aims to look at the possibilities that regions have in the framework of the European Union. Regions are represented in the Union in an institutionalised way within the Committee of Regions. Although its powers are relatively limited, the Committee of Regions can provide input in the EU legislative process and present its views in various non-legislative opinions in order to influence European decision-making. We will assess the importance of the right of the Committee of Regions to initiate an action for annulment and its role in safeguarding subsidiarity since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. The second part of the paper will deal with the direct representation and other possibilities of regions in the EU framework. The entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty improved the standing of regions and cities in the EU's political system. One of the important changes is that the local and regional right of self government is now, for the first time ever, enshrined in an EU Treaty. Direct representation of Osjecko-baranjska County, in Brussels, was founded in 2007, by the City of Osijek and Osjecko-baranjska County. The main objectives of the office in Brussels are to assure strong representation of the regional interests, to provide information about the on-going processes in Brussels and to establish horizontal connections with other regions and European Institutions. Since the office of Osjecka-Branjska County was founded prior to Lisbon changes, this paper will try to answer the question whether the Lisbon changes improved the process of direct representation.