1st Edition
The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe
The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe represents the standard reference text and practical resource for everybody who analyzes issues such as local electoral systems, voting behavior, or political representation in Europe.
It provides comprehensive and expert coverage of 40 European countries – organized along the respective local state traditions – and in addressing a wide range of important questions related to local elections and voting, it broadens the scope of existing analyses quantitatively as well as qualitatively. Finally, it affords a more theoretically grounded typology of local elections and voting. Each country chapter is written by a leading expert and follows a rigorous conceptual framework for cross-national comparisons, providing an overview of the local government system, details on the place of local elections within the multilevel political system, specific features of the electoral system, analysis of the main electoral outcomes in recent decades, and, finally, reflective discussion. Representative democracy is as widespread at the local as at the national level, and as the significance of local authorities in Europe has increased in recent decades, local elections represent a crucial area of study.
The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe is an authoritative and essential reference text for scholars and students interested in local electoral politics and, more broadly, European studies, public administration, and political science.
PART 1: Introduction
1. From perennial bridesmaids to fully fledged spouses: advancing the comparative study of local elections and voting
Adam Gendzìwiłł, Ulrik Kjaer, and Kristof Steyvers
PART 2: The Nordic States
2. Denmark: How two and a half parties rule within a multiparty system
Ulrik Kjaer
3. Finland: Local autonomy, tenacious national parties, and sovereign, but indifferent voters
Siv Sandberg
4. Iceland: Where localism prevails
Eva Marín Hlynsdóttir and Eva H. Önnudóttir
5. Norway: Local democracy by trial (and error)
Jo Saglie and Signe Bock Segaard
6. Sweden: Joint election day, party dominance, and extensive turnout
Anders Lidström
PART 3: The British Isles
7. Ireland: An atypical electoral system for an atypical local government system
Aodh Quinlivan, Mark Callanan, and Liam Weeks
8. United Kingdom: Diversity amid the Cinderella elections?
Alistair Clark and Alia Middleton
PART 4: The Rhinelandic States
9. Austria: Strong participation across federal diversity
Philipp Umek
10. Belgium: Between national barometer and local atmosphere
Kristof Steyvers
11. Germany: A variety of local elections in a federal system
Angelika Vetter
12. Liechtenstein: Two leading parties in a direct democratic framework
Wilfried Marxer
13. Luxembourg: Toward a thinner relationship between local and national elections?
Dan Schmit, Raphaël Kies, and Patrick Dumont
14. The Netherlands: Increasing responsibilities and nationalized elections
Henk van der Kolk
15. Switzerland: Low turnout but no second-order elections
Andreas Ladner
PART 5: The Southern European States
16. Andorra: Local elections in quasi-federal institutions
Lluís Medir, Pere Vilanova, and Esther Pano
17. Cyprus: National parties’ dominance and the decline of electoral participation
Andreas Kirlappos
18. France: Competition only in large cities
Bernard Dolez and Annie Laurent
19. Greece: Mayors in the foreground, parties behind the scenes
Nikos Hlepas and Theodore Chadjipadelis
20. Italy: Hard-to-decipher local elections and voting
Silvia Bolgherini and Selena Grimaldi
21. Portugal: Elections and voting in a dual-tier, local government system
António F. Tavares and Pedro J. Camões
22. Spain: One main system to govern them all? Stable institutions in heterogeneous contexts
Carmen Navarro, Lluís Medir, and Jaume Magre
PART 6: New Democracies: The Central and Eastern European States
23. Czech Republic: Local elections in a fragmented municipal system
Petr Voda
24. Estonia: The consolidation of partisan politics in a small country with small municipalities
Tõnis Saarts, Georg Sootla, and Kersten Kattai
25. Hungary: The expansion and the limits of national politics at the local level
Gábor Dobos
26. Latvia: Electoral drama in local governments
Iveta Reinholde and Malvīne Stučka
27. Lithuania: Between volatile electorate and revival of nonpartisanship
Aistė Lazauskienė and Jurga Bučaitė-Vilkė
28. Poland: A hyperlocalized system?
Adam Gendźwiłł
29. Slovakia: A gradual weakening of political parties in a stable local electoral system
Daniel Klimovský
30. Ukraine: The first experiences with voting in the amalgamated territorial communities
Valentyna Romanova
PART 7: New Democracies: The Southeastern European States
31. Albania: The path to decentralized democratic governance
Naz Feka, Iain Frank Wilson, and Alba Dakoli Wilson
32. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Local elections within a weak and contested state
Kiran Auerbach
33. Bulgaria: More open local electoral rules
Desislava Kalcheva and Daniela Ushatova
34. Croatia: Games of local democracy in the shadow of national politics
Mihovil Škarica and Tijana Vukojičić Tomić
35. Kosovo: Local elections and ethnic ramifications
Memet Memeti
36. Moldova: Party-shifting mayors within a nationalized local party system
Ion Beschieru
37. Montenegro: Local elections in the shadow of national politics
Olivera Komar and Slaven Živković
38. North Macedonia: Local elections and the parliamentary political dynamics
Veli Kreci and Islam Jusufi
39. Romania: A case of national parties ruling local politics
Cristina Stănuș and Andrei Gheorghiță
40. Serbia: Three phases of local electoral politics after 1990
Aleksandar Marinković and Novak Gajić
41. Slovenia: Where strong, nonpartisan mayors are reelected many times over
Simona Kukovič and Miro Haček
PART 8: Conclusions
42. 'Happily ever after'? Comparing local elections and voting in 40 European countries
Adam Gendźwiłł, Ulrik Kjaer, and Kristof Steyvers
Biography
Adam Gendźwiłł is Assistant Professor in the Department of Local Development and Policy at the University of Warsaw, Poland.
Ulrik Kjaer is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
Kristof Steyvers is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Ghent University, Belgium.
'This is a formidable book. The book provides a golden opportunity to learn about how democracy works at the local level. Forty great chapters about electoral systems, electoral participation, party politicization, and descriptive representation in 40 different countries, plus an enlightening introduction and conclusion in which the similarities and amazing variety of patterns are clearly highlighted. This is an absolute must read if you study local politics, and it is fun to read for everyone. You will learn a lot and you will want to study local elections because there are so many intriguing facts and patterns to make sense of'.
André Blais, University of Montreal, Canada
'This comprehensive volume on local elections and voting in Europe is truly impressive. It offers a well-conceived theoretical two-dimensional structure which allows the many authors to provide comparable insights on the 40 countries covered, whether large or small, well-known or completely new to the scholarly community. The study of local elections has previously often suffered from a focus on only a few selected jurisdictions, but now presentations and data-access for a huge variety of countries are made available so that a new generation of local election studies can further enrich election studies in general. The editors’ effort is very commendable and there is no doubt that this volume is the new must-read for all comparativists working with elections at the local level. But there is also no doubt that even people who still prefer to focus on one country only can also benefit considerably from it'.
Jørgen Elklit, Aarhus University, Denmark
'Elections have been called "feasts of democracy". Without any doubt local governments across the globe are the main venue for such democratic feasts. It is therefore hard to believe that local polls have long been a blank spot on the map of our knowledge of democratic elections. This volume – produced by the fine-fleur of international experts in this emerging field of research – makes a giant step forward in charting this largely unknown territory'.
Bas Denters, University of Twente, The Netherlands
