COMPARING LOCAL GOVERNANCE: TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS
| Date | 01 June 2006 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2006.00017.x |
| Published date | 01 June 2006 |
| Author | Howard Elcock |
496 REVIEWS
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2006 Public Administration Vol. 84, No. 2, 2006 (479–515)
COMPARING LOCAL GOVERNANCE: TRENDS AND
DEVELOPMENTS
Bas Denters and Lawrence E . Rose ( eds )
Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, xiv + 293 pp., £18.99 (pb) ISBN: 0333995562
This book aptly illustrates both the potential and the limitations of compara-
tive studies of local government. On the one hand, the editors have man-
aged to develop an analytical framework within which they have expected
their contributors to work. This consists of several elements. First, the edi-
tors examine three macro challenges to existing local governments: urban-
ization, globalization and Europeanization. To these they add two micro
challenges: the demands for increased effi ciency and effectiveness inspired
by the growing infl uence of New Public Management (NPM) and increasing
demands for more citizen participation in local decision-making (p. 8).
They then add to these challenges a grid derived from earlier work by
Goldsmith and Page, which proposes that the countries to be studied can be
scrutinized under two dimensions. The fi rst is a classifi cation of Northern,
Southern European or Anglo systems; the second is the divide between fed-
eral and unitary states (p. 11). The local authorities to be studied here repre-
sent the primary level of district or communal government; counties, states
and regions are to be bit players in this drama, rather than taking centre
stage. However, they have their signifi cant parts to play as the editors and
contributors seek to draw comparative lessons from the country studies.
Crucial questions are how far they have been drawn into the brave new
worlds of NPM and citizen participation in policy-making.
On the other hand, all countries are different; Michael Goldsmith declares
at the beginning of his chapter, that ‘ All of the countries reported on in this
volume are unique ’ (p. 228). The bulk of the book consists of 13 country
studies drawn from a wide range of geographical areas. The majority (9) are
of European states and are presented as clusters of Southern, Northern
and Anglo systems. The other three studies range much more widely – to
Australia and New Zealand as Anglo systems and to the United States, with
its 50 local government systems, each governed by the State Constitution.
Hence a theme prominent in Hank Savitch and Ronald Vogel ’ s chapter is
the fragmentation of the US system, which among other things has inhib-
ited the spread of NPM methods there. Incidentally, they include a discus-
sion of American federalism which, while being de rigeur in American
constitutional writing, is not entirely relevant here.
The editors have clearly tried to suggest a common agenda to their con-
tributors. This is focused on the three macro and two micro issues outlined
earlier. This is effective, however, only to a degree. Most of the contributors
to the case study chapters – there are 17 of them in all, including the book ’ s
editors – have felt compelled to highlight distinctive features of the countries
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