Suchergebnisse

An examination of the growth in governmental activity reveals that it is the subnational level of government which has absorbed a greater share of governmental growth than the centre. Explores reasons for this and concludes that the most likely ones lie in the continued urbanisation of most western countries, with the need for more governmental services, and in the possibility that taxpayers' resistance to tax increases is lower at the subnational than at the national level. (Abstract amended)

At least 3 aspects of the modern democratic state are usually underemphasised: the unique character of every polity derived from its unique location; the capacity of territorial allegiance to override class, party or occupational allegiance; and the impact of physical scale on the political process. Further aspects of territoriality in Western Europe are explored, including centre--periphery relations, state fragmentation and subnational structural modernisation. (Abstract amended)

Where responsibility for a public service is divided between the centre and sub-national government, legislative intention is unlikely to match service delivery. This is the implementation gap or control deficit, which, it is claimed, will always arise because of inherent limitations on central coordinative capacity. However, this claim seems to be derived from states like West Germany where conditions are such that the centre is severely handicapped. In states where the centre has fewer constrictions, like the United Kingdom, the centre appears to be able to minimize control deficits by a number of means, including the co-option of national associations of sub-national professionals, and sub-national units themselves. The UK centre is also able to restructure the sub-national system itself in order to enhance its control capacity.

Ausgehend davon, daß England zu den am stärksten zentralisierten Industriestaaten zählt, wird die Entwicklung regionaler Autonomie (Übertragung von legislativer und exekutiver Gewalt auf regionale Gebietskörperschaften, Devolution) seit Beginn der 60er Jahre untersucht. Widerstände gegen die von schottischen und walisischen Nationalisten propagierte Devolution seitens der höheren zentralen Bürokratie und lokaler Gebietskörperschaften sowie das Desinteresse von Politikern und Öffentlichkeit werden analysiert. Eine Änderung des Wahlsystems in Richtung Verhältniswahlrecht - so das Ergebnis - würde die an Devolution interessierten Kräfte stärken und institutionelle Reformen des zentralisierten Systems ermöglichen. (AuD-Hng)