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CHAPTER FOURTEEN: MULTILEVEL GOVERNANCE

14.1 Multilevel governance: intergovernmental relations plus interest groups. The resources of each player as an influence on decisions (pp. 281-2).

 

14.2 Federalism: sharing sovereignty between two entrenched levels. Exclusive, concurrent and residual powers. Confederations. Dangers of asymmetric federalism (pp. 282-93).

 

14.3 Origins of federations: usually a voluntary compact between states seeking the military and economic advantages of scale. Coming together (e.g. USA) vs. holding together (e.g. Belgium). Free trade areas as a modern alternative. Ethnic federalism (pp. 284-5).

 

14.4 Federal-state relations. Dual and cooperative federalism. USA vs. Germany (subsidiarity). Growing interdependence and its causes. Growing power of centre until final decades of the twentieth century. Fiscal federalism: the importance of financial flows. Also, central direction through unfunded mandates (pp. 285-90).

 

14.5 Unitary government. Not always centralised and becoming less so. Deconcentration, decentralization and devolution. The resources of the centre and the localities. Dual and fused systems. The successful expansion of the intermediate level, e.g. regional government, stimulated by the EU within Europe. The focus of the middle level on economic planning and infrastructure (pp. 293-4).

 

14.6 Local government. Problem of combining small scale with efficiency. Greater status in Europe, especially the North, and when in possession of general competence. The pragmatic character of local government in the new world. Council, mayor-council and council-manager systems. The growing appeal of elected mayors. Functions and the enabling authority. Relationships with the centre: dual vs. fused (pp. 294-99).

 

14.7 Authoritarian states. Limited significance of local government under communism and fascism. Centre and periphery linked through patronage, not institutions. Local areas as personal fiefdoms. Frequent reorganizations. Soviet ‘façade federalism’; China’s unitary structure (pp. 299-300).

 

14.8 In illiberal democracies, the dominance of the ruler leads to a focus on national rather than local politics. But often combined with considerable decentralization in practice. Patronage as a link across levels. Post-communist Russia: from deconcentration to reconcentration and the rebuilding of the power vertical (pp. 300-2).