Ellen Wayenberg

Institutional impact assessment in multi-level systems: conceptualizing decentralization effects from a comparative perspective

Comparative literature on institutional reforms in multi-level systems proceeds from a global trend towards the decentralization of state functions. However, there is only scarce knowledge about the impact that decentralization has had, in particular, upon the sub-central governments involved. How does it affect regional and local governments? Do these reforms also have unintended outcomes on the sub-central level and how can this be explained? This article aims to develop a conceptual framework to assess the impacts of decentralization on the sub-central level from a comparative and policy-oriented perspective. This framework is intended to outline the major patterns and models of decentralization and the theoretical assumptions regarding de-/re-centralization impacts, as well as pertinent cross-country approaches meant to evaluate and compare institutional reforms. It will also serve as an analytical guideline and a structural basis for all the country-related articles in this Special Issue. Points for practitioners Decentralization reforms are approved as having a key role to play in the attainment of ‘good governance’. Yet, there is also the enticement on the part of state governments to offload an ever-increasing amount of responsibilities to, and overtask, local levels of government, which can lead to increasing performance disparities within local sub-state jurisdictions. Against this background, the article provides a conceptual framework to assess reform impacts from a comparative perspective. The analytical framework can be used by practitioners to support their decisions about new decentralization strategies or necessary adjustments regarding ongoing reform measures.

Governance and intergovernmental relations in the European Union and the United States

This book represents a major attempt to draw together two fundamental streams of research; Intergovernmental Relations and Multi-Level governance. Combining US and European schools of thought, this timely volume outlines key areas of convergence and divergence. IGR concerns interactions within the public sector and is traditionally favoured in America, whereas MLG is more pertinent to the crossroads of the vertical (intergovernmental) and horizontal (state-society) dimensions and is considered foremost a European approach. The principal objective of this book is to bridge the gap between academic communities on either side of the Atlantic. Prominent scholars have gathered together for this volume and their various contributions, both individually and as a whole, provide a fresh and novel perspective on IGR and MLG and their interconnections. This innovative book will be of particular appeal to scholars and students of political science in America, Europe and beyond as well as practitioners in US and EU governments. The companion volume Policy, Performance and Management in Governance and Intergovernmental Relations is also available from Edward Elgar Publishing.

Policy, Performance and Management in Governance and Intergovernmental Relations

This innovative book presents a transatlantic comparison of governance and Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) policy, performance and management. By examining both analytical and empirical differences and similarities between the European Union and the United States, this comprehensive book provides a better understanding of (inter) governmental systems, settings and actors operating in the post New Public Management Era. The expert contributors consider processes of policy formulation and implementation from an intergovernmental point of view, examine issues of performance and accountability that rise in IGR settings and zoom in on the importance and implications of IGR for welfare. Taken together, these insights provide an important next step into the world of transatlantic research and comparison. This timely book will appeal to academics and researchers involved in IGR and Multi-Level Governance from the US and Europe as well as post-graduate students in public administration and public policy.

Territorial reform of local government: evaluation criteria underpinning decisions and debate in Flanders

Abstract In this article three cases of territorial reform affecting the local tier of government in Belgium are analysed from an evaluation perspective. The debate and discourse preceding the centrally introduced reforms were screened in order to identify which types of evaluative criteria and governmental motives underpinned the reforms. On the other hand, the authors looked at evaluations of these reforms that had been commissioned by government, in order to sketch out the evaluation criteria and perspectives. Criteria in the preceding debate and in the ex-post evaluations are compared within each case, as well as between cases. Proceeding along an inductive path, the authors link evaluation practice to theory. Do the criteria identified fit available models of quality in local governance? And, on the other hand, can an existing model grasp all the criteria at stake in such drastic reforms? The three case studies are: the country-wide amalgamation operation of 1976; the introduction of a new and more differentiated framework for inter-municipal cooperation; and the formulation of intra-municipal decentralisation.

Trajectories for Modernizing Local Governance: Revisiting the Flanders Case

Local government plays a central but altering role in local governance. Together with the shift from a night-watchman state to a welfare state , the models of governance provision changed. Government itself became larger and more scattered throughout the local community. Moreover, government was no longer the only governance provider. Many actors were involved in governance with a diversity of steering relations. In our time, governance continues to change. What are the emerging models of local governance today? After sorting out some terminological and methodological issues, we describe four emerging ideal-type models (i.e. the holding model , the autonomous networks model , the implementation model and the reintegration model ), based on four societal scenarios (i.e. triumphant markets , hundred flowers , creative societies and turbulent neighbourhoods ). The models represent four possible local governance futures. Next, the models are applied on two management issues: organizational structure and financial management. Finally, some embryonic evidence is given on the emergence of the models.

The Flemish government's responsibility for local government modernization

Abstract Throughout Western Europe, local government is modernized. Central and regional governments carry responsibility for this modernization because they decide upon its nature. However, this responsibility reaches out further since a higher-level government also carries responsibility for the success of its modernization at the local level. The article unravels this responsibility for local government modernization in the case of the Flemish government. As a result of Belgian state reform, this government counts today as the most important higher-level government from the viewpoint of local government in Flanders.

Belgium: Flemish Inter-Municipal Cooperation Under Reform

Inter-municipal cooperation in Flanders is currently regulated by the framework decree of 6 July 2001, which aimed to drastically renew inter-municipal practice by introducing a full set of reforms. Each of them sprang from one of three guiding principles to which the Flemish government had adhered with regard to inter-municipal cooperation. The first was to legally anchor a variety of inter-municipal forms of cooperation. Second, regardless of its structure, intermunicipal cooperation should be sufficiently supervised by the councils of the municipalities involved. Hence, a number of reforms of the 2001 decree are based on the principle of (sufficient) democratic supervision. The third principle underlying the decree ensures the “purity” of inter-municipal cooperation, meaning it should primarily involve municipalities. The 2001 decree thus excludes the involvement of certain actors in each of its forms of inter-municipal cooperation. How far has the 2001 framework decree reformed the practice of inter-municipal cooperation in Flanders? And, more importantly, how has the local level appraised its reforms? Recently, the Flemish Ministry for Internal Affairs announced that it would answer these questions in an evaluation of the 2001 decree. Once finalised, this evaluation could serve to foster adaptations of the decree. The Flemish government has put itself behind the decree’s principles and has – by promise of its Minister of Internal Affairs – stated that it would revise the decree if necessary to reinforce its application (Keulen 2004: 23). In this chapter, we begin the evaluation by answering the questions raised above for the region called Westhoek, an area in the west of Flanders that covers the territory of 18 rather small municipalities. As such, the focus on Westhoek

Explaining Trajectories of Municipal Amalgamations: A Case Comparison of the Netherlands and Flanders

Although there has been a general trend towards local government mergers in Western European countries, the trajectories of municipal amalgamations vary widely per country. Through a comparative in-depth analysis of the Netherlands and Flanders we explore what factors help to explain the differences between trajectories of municipal amalgamations, as a starting point for understanding why municipal amalgamations do or do not occur. It is clear that amalgamation trajectories are highly complex and very much embedded in case-specific contexts. Major factors influencing municipal amalgamations trajectories relate to an explanation of path dependence. The complexity of amalgamation processes, however, carries the threat of easy oversimplification. Our conclusion, therefore, is that the deeper processes must be understood as a basis for studies that use more simplified, quantified data.

Towards a city-regional policy in Flanders from the bottom up

This article deals with the governance challenges related to equitable funding of public services that are used by residents of a city region regardless of where they pay their taxes. Focusing on spill-over effects of leisure policies in two Flemish city regions, this article shows how various services to some extent are consumed by residents of municipalities other than the provider of these services. Mechanisms for costs and benefits are not readily available, and the analysis illustrates a more general kind of dilemma related to public service provision in dense and interlinked areas such as the fringes of city regions.

Subnational Government in the Research Spotlight: The Merit of EGPA Permanent Study Group 5

Kuhlmann, Laffin and Wayenberg point out three main strands of subnational changes that have significantly dominated the research field and focus of Permanent Study Group 5. Elaborating upon the Study Group’s contributions, the chapter overviews relevant research questions, approaches and findings that have been touched upon concerning local and regional government systems, subnational reforms and their evaluation in a multi-level governance setting. The chapter concludes with zooming in on austerity as a main driver of future developments upon and amongst all levels of government.