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Political Transformations and Public Finances
How did today's rich states first establish modern fiscal systems? To answer this question, Political Transformations and Public Finances by Mark Dincecco examines the evolution of political regimes and public finances in Europe over the long term. The book argues that the emergence of efficient fiscal institutions was the result of two fundamental political transformations that resolved long-standing problems of fiscal fragmentation and absolutism. States gained tax force through fiscal centralization and restricted ruler power through parliamentary limits, which enabled them to gather large tax revenues and channel funds toward public services with positive economic benefits. Using a novel combination of descriptive, case study and statistical methods, the book pursues this argument through a systematic investigation of a new panel database that spans eleven countries and four centuries. The book's findings are significant for our understanding of economic history and have important consequences for current policy debates.
eBook
Multi-level governance
Seeks to develop understanding of the notion of multi‐level governance through a critical exploration of its definitions and applications by scholars with very different concerns within the broad discipline of Political Studies. Despite the different concerns of different authors, four common strands emerge that provide a parsimonious definition of multi‐level governance that raises clear hypotheses for future research. First, that decision‐making at various territorial levels is characterized by the increased participation of non‐state actors. Second, that the identification of discrete or nested territorial levels of decision‐making is becoming more difficult in the context of complex overlapping networks. Third, that in this changing context, the role of the state is being transformed as state actors develop new strategies of coordination, steering and networking that may protect and, in some cases, enhance state autonomy. Fourth, that in this changing context, the nature of democratic accountability has been challenged and need to be rethought or at least reviewed. The book concludes that future research on multi‐level governance should pay particular attention to the implications for democracy of empirical developments and, related to this, to the design of frameworks of accountability that adopt a positive‐sum gain in relation to the accountability versus efficiency debate.
eBook
Made in Nunavut : an experiment in decentralized government
\"After years of dreams and negotiations, the territory of Nunavut was established in Canada's Eastern and Central Arctic on April 1, 1999. Made in Nunavut provides the first comprehensive account of the planning that led to this remarkable achievement. The authors, leading authorities on the politics of the Canadian Arctic, pay particular attention to the Government of Nunavut's innovative organizational design--especially the decentralization of offices and functions (normally located in a capital) to communities across the territory. They explain how this new government was designed and implemented, and critically assess whether decentralization has delivered \"better\" government for Nunavut.\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Decentralization, Democratization, and Informal Power in Mexico
In the last two decades of the twentieth century, many countries in Latin America freed themselves from the burden of their authoritarian pasts and developed democratic political systems. At the same time, they began a process of shifting many governmental responsibilities from the national to the state and local levels. Much has been written about how decentralization has fostered democratization, but informal power relationships inherited from the past have complicated the ways in which citizens voice their concerns and have undermined the accountability of elected officials. In this book, Andrew Selee seeks to illuminate the complex linkages between informal and formal power by comparing how they worked in three Mexican cities. The process of decentralization is shown to have been intermediated by existing spheres of political influence, which in turn helped determine how much the institution of multiparty democracy in the country could succeed in bringing democracy “closer to home.”
eBook
China Experiments
All societies face a key question: how to empower governments to perform essential governmental functions while constraining the arbitrary exercise of power. This balance, always in flux, is particularly fluid in today's China. This insightful book examines the changing relationship between that state and its society, as demonstrated by numerous experiments in governance at subnational levels, and explores the implications for China's future political trajectory.
Ann Florini, Hairong Lai, and Yeling Tan set their analysis at the level of townships and counties, investigating the striking diversity of China's exploration into different governance tools and comparing these experiments with developments and debates elsewhere in the world. China Experiments draws on multiple cases of innovation to show how local authorities are breaking down traditional models of governance in responding to the challenges posed by the rapid transformations taking place across China's economy and society. The book thus differs from others on China that focus on dynamics taking place at the elite level in Beijing, and is unique in its broad but detailed, empirically grounded analysis.
The introduction examines China's changing governance architecture and raises key overarching questions. It addresses the motivations behind the wide variety of experiments underway by which authorities are trying to adapt local governance structures to meet new demands. Chapters 2-5 then explore each type of innovation in detail, from administrative streamlining and elections to partnerships in civil society and transparency measures. Each chapter explains the importance of the experiment in terms of implications for governance and draws upon specific case studies. The final chapter considers what these growing numbers of experiments add up to, whether China is headed towards a stronger more resilient authoritarianism or evolving towards its own version of democracy, and suggests a series of criteria by which China's political trajectory can be assessed.
Contents
1. China at a Crossroads
2. Streamlining the State
3. The Evolution of Voting Mechanisms
4. Civil Society
5. From Local Experiments to National Rules: China Lets the Sunshine In
6. Where is China Going?
eBook
The theory of multi-level governance : conceptual, empirical, and normative challenges
This book explores the theoretical issues, empirical evidence, and normative debates elicited by the concept of multi‐level governance (MLG). The concept is a useful descriptor of decision‐making processes that involve the simultaneous mobilization of public authorities at different jurisdictional levels as well as that of non‐governmental organizations and social movements. It has become increasingly relevant with the weakening of territorial state power and effectiveness and the increase in international interdependencies which serve to undermine conventional governmental processes. This book moves towards the construction of a theory of multi‐level governance by defining the conceptual contours of this term, identifying the processes that can uniquely be denoted by it, and discussing the normative issues that are raised by its diffusion, particularly in the European Union. Three policy areas are investigated to prove the usefulness of MLG as a theoretical and empirical concept—cohesion, environment, higher education—with particular reference to two member‐states, the UK and Germany. Finally, both the input and output legitimacy of multi‐level governance decisions and arrangements and its contribution to EU democracy are discussed. The book concludes by theorizing that as state sovereignty is pooled upwards, lower level jurisdictions are induced to participate in policy‐making ”as if“ they promoted private, particular interests, while civil society organizations are encouraged to participate in policy‐making ”as if“ they were public, general interests. It further suggests that legitimacy problems may be addressed all the more effectively the more subnational authorities develop strong linkages with civil society.
eBook