Nikos Hlepas

Measuring Local Autonomy

This chapter develops a comprehensive and empirically applicable concept to measure the autonomy of local government in the 39 European countries covered. To this end, we first discuss already existing measurements and typologies of local autonomy and decentralisation. We argue that existing data on fiscal decentralisation only tells part of the story and does not capture the role and discretion of local government in an adequate manner. Subsequently, we present our methodology to measure local autonomy, the coding scheme we developed to code the different countries as well as the different variables used. The chapter contains also information about the organisation of the whole project, the different experts involved and the method applied to gather comparative data.

The Governance of Childcare in Transition: A Comparative Analysis

Local governments are important childcare service producers. This chapter delineates their corresponding features across Europe, explores adjustments in childcare governance and discusses its consequences. The EU has, to a certain extent, harmonized child daycare by setting common goals. However, the recent changes in this policy area, arising from the economic crisis, policy-specific motivations, and more generic reforms concerning municipal tasks and obligations, have led to different service reorganization and provision strategies in terms of scaling and re-scaling. The public debt crisis in 2010 has impacted child daycare too, and recent local government reforms have had an impact on the autonomy of municipalities in this sector. With the retrenchment of local government, public coverage of childcare is threatened, while tendencies of up- and trans-scaling are enhanced.

A New Typology of Local Government? Beyond North-South and East-West

This chapter develops an empirical typology of local autonomy clustering countries with similar configurations. Aligning with the discrete quantitative approach emerging in the comparative literature, it tries to add depth and scope to the existing classifications whilst critically engaging with them. Empirically, the chapter draws on the dimensions of political discretion and financial autonomy recategorising scores as low, medium or high and probing into observable combinations thereof at the beginning, the middle and the end of the reference period. Three main conclusions stand out. First, it is possible to classify about 40 countries into 9 different types of local autonomy summarised into 4 ideal and 5 transitory types. Second, although central in existing classifications, geographical location only continues to matter to a certain extent according to our data. Third, as most of the existing classifications referred to stable state traditions, our findings suggest a combination of static as well as more dynamic features. Hence, we conclude that there is no such thing as a universal and encompassing typology of local autonomy that will be valid and reliable for the long term. Future research should revisit and update dimensions and classifications and delve deeper into the ontology and implications of their configurations.

Roadmap to Local Autonomy? Drivers of Variation

The previous chapters of the book have identified substantial and persistent patterns of variation in terms of local autonomy and its components across the 39 countries covered by the present study. This chapter seeks to explain the variation of local autonomy by trying to identify drivers of variation. Six hypotheses are explored in this regard with the database available. The hypotheses state that local autonomy varies in response to voter preferences, requirements of modernisation, state traditions, path dependency, games of multilevel governance, or citizen trust. State traditions, multilevel governance and citizen trust are the factors that best account for the cross-country variation in local autonomy.

What Is Local Autonomy

The balance between local autonomy and central control is a perennial issue in the territorial organisation of states. Despite the importance of local autonomy, there is little theoretical convergence regarding the core elements of the concept, and a limited number of studies try to measure local autonomy comparatively. This volume aims at filling this gap. On the grounds of a theoretically rooted concept, we measure the autonomy of local government in 39 European countries over a time period of 25 years. After presenting the main research intentions of this volume and the key issues regarding local autonomy, this chapter discusses the underlying normative values and the origins of the concept. What are the different theoretical perspectives and various aspects apprehended by the various disciplinary approaches? We conclude that local autonomy definitely is a multidimensional concept.

Conclusions: Local Autonomy—Patterns, Dynamics and Ambiguities

In this final chapter, we recall the importance of local autonomy as it is promoted by many international organisations and the theoretical foundations of the concept. Subsequently, we summarise findings on the different variables measured and outline the patterns of local autonomy found among the 39 countries under scrutiny, as well as to the overall index of local autonomy, its distinct dimensions and the country rankings. The chapter also recalls our attempts to explain the variation among the countries and to learn more about the consequences. The chapter is rounded off with further analysis of patterns of interactive governance and democratic space. The patterns that emerge should encourage scholars to develop further hypotheses about the effects of local autonomy and decentralisation on performance.

The Local Autonomy Index (LAI)

In this chapter we attempt to create an index of local autonomy. Ideally, such an index includes all the different aspects of local autonomy discussed in the literature and combines them according to their importance. The chapter emphasises the choices made while constructing the index and suggests different ways to test the results. Given the multidimensionality of local autonomy, we argue that the local autonomy index (LAI) has a formative character. We first combine the original standardised 11 variables to 7 theoretically and empirically meaningful dimensions of local autonomy: that is, legal autonomy, political discretion, policy scope, financial autonomy, organisational autonomy, access and non-interference. Favouring a functional and economic approach, we argue that particular weight should be given to political discretion and financial autonomy. Together with legal autonomy, we claim that these three dimensions form the cornerstones of local autonomy. The overall index simply aggregates the seven weighted dimensions. The results are presented as mean values for the five five-year periods between 1990 and 2014 as well as country rankings and country-specific patterns of local autonomy.

Blessings of Local Autonomy? Does It Matter? For What? How?

In this chapter local autonomy is treated as an independent variable. We want to know whether there is a causal link between the degree of autonomy and the performance of the different countries in terms of the quality of democracy, economic growth, corruption and happiness. The chapter starts with some theoretical remarks concerning the expected impact and shows that there are in fact positive relations between local autonomy and input as well as output-related aspects of local government. These links remain positive even when we control for the size of the municipalities and whether they belong to the group of former communist countries. Our conclusion, however, is a bit more cautious. It remains doubtful whether one can simply increase the autonomy of the municipalities to increase the performance of local government. This process is likely to be more complicated.

Greek Municipalities Before and During the Austerity Era: Imposed Policies, Local Resistance and Unsuccessful Reforms

EU policies promoting markets and competition were institutionally imposed on Greece by the EC in the 1980s and 1990s. The sovereign debt crisis which first emerged in 2010 has changed the rules of the game. External players, that is, the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) have now a clearer plan that goes beyond the general promotion of competitive rules and modernization of central and local administrations. Under the specific conditions of the sovereign debt crisis, the transfer of austerity policies and the reforms that complement them, takes place within a specific context, insofar as national and local resistance is weakened by the country’s dependence on foreign funding. What ultimately result are reform policies of varying shapes and sizes, which are thus of restricted consistency and, consequently, of limited effectiveness.

Who Governs? Patterns of Responsiveness and Accountability

A basic argument of this chapter is that an analysis of local government systems should take into consideration the double role of local authorities: governance for the sake of the citizens’ community and for the sake of the state. Focusing on the accountability and responsiveness of decision-makers, we argue that these are the main configuring factors for different versions of local political communities. Using dimensions of the local autonomy index (LAI), we elaborate four models of community governance. The distribution of countries has been examined for 1990, 2005 and 2014, and it was found that the strongest type of “self-determined community” included the biggest number of countries, while the weakest type of “patronized community” gradually became a rare exception. The shift away from supra-local and towards local orientation was comparatively stronger in responsiveness than in accountability, especially among ex-communist countries. Finally, a considerable mobility across types was recorded in Eastern and Southern Europe, while stability characterised the rest. Future research should try to detect factors explaining persistence and change, furthermore the eventual effects of different community types upon attitudes and perceptions of both citizens and politicians.