Suchergebnisse

Despite a challenging context, local authorities succeeded in influencing one of the most fiercely debated issues of the new EU Public Procurement Directives (2014): the (conditional) exemption of public-public cooperation (PPC). Using theory-building process-tracing this paper analyses the PPC-case to design a parsimonious causal model of successful municipal lobbying under challenging circumstances. The model represents a composed mechanism that triggered municipal lobby influence through the interplay of three basic parts: a strategic lobby campaign deployed by a strong protagonist, an external opportunity structure underpinning and strengthening the latter and a significantly receptive EU decision-making arena. Furthermore, the case suggests that in challenging lobby cases local government can profit from its distinctive character as an electorally legitimised and politically connected interest group to promote its interests in the EU polity.

The Europeanisation of cities is seen as an important condition for the latter's successful contribution to the development of an EU urban policy. To assess the probability of this event our paper investigates the Europeanisation of the members of the EUROCITIES network, the most important trans-European city network. Using survey data gathered from 48 member cities, the study maps different elements of the cities' Europeanisation trajectory, looks for underlying patterns and figures out how EUROCITIES membership relates to this process of urban Europeanisation. The explorative analysis results in a diverse and multi-layered picture. EUROCITIES members vary strongly with regard to their internal Europeanisation process. Whilst generally not scoring very high on minimal steps such as interest in and knowledge of EU affairs, cities are more actively involved in obtaining EU funding, networking and lobbying the EU. Furthermore, urban Europeanisation seems to work as a functional toolbox rather than a linear, cumulative process. The Europeanisation patterns that are found, for instance, include interest and knowledge as general preconditions of urban Europeanisation, a logic of networking that involves exchange schemes with other cities and EU institutions, as well as lobbying and to a lesser extent the establishment of an EU department which are connected to different other elements of urban Europeanisation. Finally, the involvement in EUROCITIES positively correlates with some of the most rewarding manifestations of the mobilisation of cities on the European scene such as inter-city policy exchange, obtaining EU funding and lobbying the EU institutions. ; L'europeizzazione delle città è considerata una condizione importante per il contributo positivo di queste ultime allo sviluppo di una politica urbana dell'UE. Per valutare la probabilità di questo evento, l'articolo esamina l'europeizzazione dei membri della rete EUROCITIES, la più importante rete urbana transeuropea. Utilizzando i dati raccolti da 48 città membri, lo studio traccia diversi elementi della traiettoria di europeizzazione delle città, cerca modelli sottostanti e spiega come l'appartenenza ad EUROCITIES si riferisca a questo processo di europeizzazione urbana. L'analisi esplorativa produce un quadro diversificato e multilivello. I membri di EUROCITIES variano fortemente per quanto riguarda il loro processo di europeizzazione interna. Mentre generalmente non acquisiscono molti punti su aspetti secondari come l'interesse e la conoscenza delle problematiche dell'UE, le città sono più impegnate ad ottenere finanziamenti dall'Unione Europea, nella costruzione di reti e di lobbies di quest'ultima. Inoltre, l'europeizzazione urbana sembra agire come uno strumento funzionale piuttosto che come un processo lineare e cumulativo. I modelli europei individuati, ad esempio, includono gli interessi e le conoscenze come precondizioni generali per l'europeizzazione urbana, una logica di networking che coinvolge schemi di scambio con altre città ed istituzioni dell'UE, nonché la lobbying e, in misura minore, l'istituzione di un dipartimento per l'UE che sono collegati a diversi altri elementi dell'Europizzazione urbana. Infine, il coinvolgimento in EUROCITIES è correlato positivamente ad alcune delle manifestazioni più gratificanti della mobilitazione delle città nella scena europea, come lo scambio di politiche fra città, l'ottenimento di finanziamenti dell'UE e la lobbying delle istituzioni dell'UE.

'Local government is a key topic for EU scholars. Yet, it has been somewhat under-explored, with the literature on the EU having largely neglected it. This book does much to fill this gap by providing an empirical and theoretical account of the role of local government in the EU. It provides a well informed and very thoughtful account of the different relations between the different elements of European local government'. —Neill Nugent, Professor Emeritus of European Politics, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK 'The authors work with the analytical framework of an integration cycle, according to which local government reacts to the impact of EU decisions by adapting its internal organisation and external interactions in order to shape European integration in general and EU policies in particular. Empirically it is shown how complex this cycle is and how its results emerge from an interplay of formal and informal, vertical and horizontal interactions'. —Hubert Heinelt, Retired Professor of Public Administration, Public Policy and Local Politics, TU Darmstadt – Institute for Political Science, Germany This book addresses the 'bigger picture' of local-European relations and adds a new dimension to existing studies on multilevel governance and the Europeanisation of local government. Drawing from a combination of European integration theories and operational approaches, it introduces the idea of an integration cycle in which local government responds to the top-down impact of the EU internally, horizontally and vertically. This volume presents a wide range of empirical examples to demonstrate how local authorities across Europe have changed their practices, orientation and preferences, and adapted their institutions and organisation. By mobilising formally and informally, they participate in European governance and contribute to the future trajectories of European integration, thereby completing the integration cycle. Marius Guderjan is a Lecturer and Researcher in British Politics at the Centre for British Studies at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. Tom Verhelst is an Assistant Professor in Local Politics at the Centre for Local Politics at Ghent University, Belgium.

It is widely acknowledged that elected representatives have often benefited from a variety of steppingstones in their passage to power. This article comparatively studies a selection of such steppingstones amongst local councillors in Europe. More specifically, it takes account of family ties, ambition, the entrenchment in the locality and the political party as elements of activation and apprenticeship in the process of political recruitment. In doing so, it sets out ideal-typical laymen from their professionalized counterparts. The article shows that at this early stage of recruitment, local councillors still generally tend towards the layman archetype. Furthermore, some assets, such as the inclusion in the local community and the enrolment in a political party, seem necessary to enter on a political career. Others are more provisional (e.g. family, motivations, social background, municipal size, ideology and function) or dependent upon the institutional provisions in place (e.g. quota, electoral system). Finally, professionalization patterns do not depend directly from traditional country types, but rather from the specific combination of factors in each country.

This article sets the framework for the subsequent special issue on political recruitment and career development of local councillors in a comparative perspective. After conceiving recruitment and career development as a funnel-like process filtering out the few from the few and leading to patterns of interpositional mobility in the political realm, the article proceeds by proposing the ideal-types of layman and professional to characterize the poles of the continuum upon which current trends in recruitment and career may be situated. Overall, these trends seem to point at a shifting structure of opportunities with predominant professionalization and partial socio-demographic democratization. Still, from a comparative perspective the extent to and the pace by which these general trends emerge are likely to be contingent upon the country, the municipality and the individual councillors studied. The comparative dataset on which the issue draws offers a unique opportunity to discern empirical patterns in the factors discussed above. The article concludes by outlining the issue and summarizing its main findings revealing a complex reality in the different phases of recruitment and career development of the contemporary councillor in Europe.

This article addresses the question of matter in discussing the effect of recruitment and career development on the importance councillors attach to various tasks associated with their office. It starts from the assumption that professionalization would lead to giving inward-looking tasks more importance to the detriment of their outward counterparts. The analysis shows the question of matter is much more complex in reality in terms of co-variation and causation and is contingent upon (supra-)local structures of opportunities. Overall, (existing) explanations are rather weak. Early stages in the recruitment process seem to matter most and have a negative effect on outward-looking tasks. Whereas specific patterns of path dependency in terms of recruitment and career development thus do appear, the road taken in public office is long and winding and does not always straightforwardly reflect the common legacy of shared past experiences in the way towards it.

This article addresses the question of matter in discussing the effect of recruitment and career development on the importance councillors attach to various tasks associated with their office. It starts from the assumption that professionalization would lead to giving inward-looking tasks more importance to the detriment of their outward counterparts. The analysis shows the question of matter is much more complex in reality in terms of co-variation and causation and is contingent upon (supra-)local structures of opportunities. Overall, (existing) explanations are rather weak. Early stages in the recruitment process seem to matter most and have a negative effect on outward-looking tasks. Whereas specific patterns of path dependency in terms of recruitment and career development thus do appear, the road taken in public office is long and winding and does not always straightforwardly reflect the common legacy of shared past experiences in the way towards it. Adapted from the source document.

It is widely acknowledged that elected representatives have often benefited from a variety of steppingstones in their passage to power. This article comparatively studies a selection of such steppingstones amongst local councillors in Europe. More specifically, it takes account of family ties, ambition, the entrenchment in the locality and the political party as elements of activation and apprenticeship in the process of political recruitment. In doing so, it sets out ideal-typical laymen from their professionalized counterparts. The article shows that at this early stage of recruitment, local councillors still generally tend towards the layman archetype. Furthermore, some assets, such as the inclusion in the local community and the enrolment in a political party, seem necessary to enter on a political career. Others are more provisional (e.g. family, motivations, social background, municipal size, ideology and function) or dependent upon the institutional provisions in place (e.g. quota, electoral system). Finally, professionalization patterns do not depend directly from traditional country types, but rather from the specific combination of factors in each country. Adapted from the source document.

This article sets the framework for the subsequent special issue on political recruitment and career development of local councillors in a comparative perspective. After conceiving recruitment and career development as a funnel-like process filtering out the few from the few and leading to patterns of interpositional mobility in the political realm, the article proceeds by proposing the ideal-types of layman and professional to characterize the poles of the continuum upon which current trends in recruitment and career may be situated. Overall, these trends seem to point at a shifting structure of opportunities with predominant professionalization and partial socio-demographic democratization. Still, from a comparative perspective the extent to and the pace by which these general trends emerge are likely to be contingent upon the country, the municipality and the individual councillors studied. The comparative dataset on which the issue draws offers a unique opportunity to discern empirical patterns in the factors discussed above. The article concludes by outlining the issue and summarizing its main findings revealing a complex reality in the different phases of recruitment and career development of the contemporary councillor in Europe. Adapted from the source document.