Szücs / Szücx / Strömberg Local Elites, Political Capital and Democratic Development

Governing Leaders in Seven European Countries
1. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-3-531-90110-7
Verlag: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 386 Seiten, eBook

Reihe: Urban and Regional Research International

This book helps to understand in which ways local governing elites are important for the success or failure of national democratic development. Although we know a great deal about the general importance of civil society and social capital for the development of sustainable democracy, we still know little about what specific local governing qualities or political capital that interact with democratic development. The collected data covers time series of surveys from between 15 to 30 political and administrative leaders in over a hundred middle-sized European and Eurasian cities. The study takes us across the 1980s and 1990s, going from cities in Sweden and the Netherlands - through the Baltic cities - to the cities of Belarus and Russia. The findings show the importance of local political capital based on commitments to core democratic values, informal governance networks, and the significance of initially connecting the community to global, non-economic relationships.

Stefan Szücs, PhD. is a political scientist in the Department of Political Science and the Center for Public Sector Research (CEFOS), Göteborg University, Sweden.
Lars Strömberg is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the Department of Political Science and the Center for Public Sector Research (CEFOS), Göteborg University, Sweden.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Szücx, Stefan

Strömberg, Lars

Szücs, Stefan

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contents;6
2;List of Figures;8
3;List of Tables;14
4;Preface;16
5;Acknowledgements;18
6;Notes on Contributors in order of appearance;20
7;Introduction: Studying Local Elites and Democratic Development;22
8;Part I Western Democracies;39
8.1;The Untouchables: Stability among the Swedish Local Elite;40
8.2;From Despair to Complacency: The Development of the Dutch Local Elite;72
9;Part II The New Baltic Democracies;101
9.1;Toward Democratic Governance: The Lithuanian Local Elite;102
9.2;Estonian Local Elites a Decade after the Transition to Democracy;144
9.3;The Development of Democracy and Local Governance in Latvia;174
10;Part III The Commonwealth of Independent States;204
10.1;Local Governance in Belarus during the Regime of Authoritarian Democracy;206
10.2;The Formation of Democracy and Local Governance in Russia;232
11;Part IV Comparative Analysis Across Countries and Cities;257
11.1;Universal Change and the Conditions for Democratic Development;258
11.2;Political Capital and How it Grows;294
11.3;Conclusion: Democracy Needs Local Political Capital;316
12;References;336
13;Appendix;348

Introduction: Studying Local Elites and Democratic Development.- Introduction: Studying Local Elites and Democratic Development.- Western Democracies.- The Untouchables: Stability among the Swedish Local Elite.- From Despair to Complacency: The Development of the Dutch Local Elite.- The New Baltic Democracies.- Toward Democratic Governance: The Lithuanian Local Elite.- Estonian Local Elites a Decade after the Transition to Democracy.- The Development of Democracy and Local Governance in Latvia.- The Commonwealth of Independent States.- Local Governance in Belarus during the Regime of Authoritarian Democracy.- The Formation of Democracy and Local Governance in Russia.- Comparative Analysis Across Countries and Cities.- Universal Change and the Conditions for Democratic Development.- Political Capital and How it Grows.- Conclusion: Democracy Needs Local Political Capital.

Über Autor(innen)

Stefan Szücs, PhD. is a political scientist in the Department of Political Science and the Center for Public Sector Research (CEFOS), Göteborg University, Sweden. Lars Strömberg is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the Department of Political Science and the Center for Public Sector Research (CEFOS), Göteborg University, Sweden.