The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe

The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe represents the standard reference text and practical resource for everybody who analyzes issues such as local electoral systems, voting behavior, or political representation in Europe. It provides comprehensive and expert coverage of 40 European countries – organized along the respective local state traditions – and in addressing a wide range of important questions related to local elections and voting, it broadens the scope of existing analyses quantitatively as well as qualitatively. Finally, it affords a more theoretically grounded typology of local elections and voting. Each country chapter is written by a leading expert and follows a rigorous conceptual framework for cross-national comparisons, providing an overview of the local government system, details on the place of local elections within the multilevel political system, specific features of the electoral system, analysis of the main electoral outcomes in recent decades, and, finally, reflective discussion. Representative democracy is as widespread at the local as at the national level, and as the significance of local authorities in Europe hasincreased in recent decades, local elections represent a crucial area of study. The Routledge Handbook of Local Elections and Voting in Europe is an authoritative and essential reference text for scholars and students interested in local electoral politics and, more broadly, European studies, public administration, and political science.

PART 1: Introduction 1. From perennial bridesmaids to fully fledged spouses: advancing the comparative study of local elections and voting Adam Gendzìwill, Ulrik Kjaer, and Kristof Steyvers PART 2: The Nordic States 2. Denmark: How two and a half parties rule within a multiparty system Ulrik Kjaer 3. Finland: Local autonomy, tenacious national parties, and sovereign, but indifferent voters Siv Sandberg 4. Iceland: Where localism prevails Eva Marín Hlynsdóttir and Eva H. Önnudóttir 5. Norway: Local democracy by trial (and error) Jo Saglie and Signe Bock Segaard 6. Sweden: Joint election day, party dominance, and extensive turnout Anders Lidström PART 3: The British Isles 7. Ireland: An atypical electoral system for an atypical local government system Aodh Quinlivan, Mark Callanan, and Liam Weeks 8. United Kingdom: Diversity amid the Cinderella elections? Alistair Clark and Alia Middleton PART 4: The Rhinelandic States 9. Austria: Strong participation across federal diversity Philipp Umek 10. Belgium: Between national barometer and local atmosphere Kristof Steyvers 11. Germany: A variety of local elections in a federal system Angelika Vetter 12. Liechtenstein: Two leading parties in a direct democratic framework Wilfried Marxer 13. Luxembourg: Toward a thinner relationship between local and national elections? Dan Schmit, Raphaël Kies, and Patrick Dumont 14. The Netherlands: Increasing responsibilities and nationalized elections Henk van der Kolk 15. Switzerland: Low turnout but no second-order elections Andreas Ladner PART 5: The Southern European States 16. Andorra: Local elections in quasi-federal institutions Lluís Medir, Pere Vilanova, and Esther Pano 17. Cyprus: National parties’ dominance and the decline of electoral participation Andreas Kirlappos 18. France: Competition only in large cities Bernard Dolez and Annie Laurent 19. Greece: Mayors in the foreground, parties behind the scenes Nikos Hlepas and Theodore Chadjipadelis 20. Italy: Hard-to-decipher local elections and voting Silvia Bolgherini and Selena Grimaldi 21. Portugal: Elections and voting in a dual-tier, local government system António F. Tavares and Pedro J. Camões 22. Spain: One main system to govern them all? Stable institutions in heterogeneous contexts Carmen Navarro, Lluís Medir, and Jaume Magre PART 6: New Democracies: The Central and Eastern European States 23. Czech Republic: Local elections in a fragmented municipal system Petr Voda 24. Estonia: The consolidation of partisan politics in a small country with small municipalities Tõnis Saarts, Georg Sootla, and Kersten Kattai 25. Hungary: The expansion and the limits of national politics at the local level Gábor Dobos 26. Latvia: Electoral drama in local governments Iveta Reinholde and Malvine Stucka 27. Lithuania: Between volatile electorate and revival of nonpartisanship Aiste Lazauskiene and Jurga Bucaite-Vilke 28. Poland: A hyperlocalized system? Adam Gendzwill 29. Slovakia: A gradual weakening of political parties in a stable local electoral system Daniel Klimovský 30. Ukraine: The first experiences with voting in the amalgamated territorial communities Valentyna Romanova PART 7: New Democracies: The Southeastern European States 31. Albania: The path to decentralized democratic governance Naz Feka, Iain Frank Wilson, and Alba Dakoli Wilson 32. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Local elections within a weak and contested state Kiran Auerbach 33. Bulgaria: More open local electoral rules Desislava Kalcheva and Daniela Ushatova 34. Croatia: Games of local democracy in the shadow of national politics Mihovil Škarica and Tijana Vukojicic Tomic 35. Kosovo: Local elections and ethnic ramifications Memet Memeti 36. Moldova: Party-shifting mayors within a nationalized local party system Ion Beschieru 37. Montenegro: Local elections in the shadow of national politics Olivera Komar and Slaven Živkovic 38. North Macedonia: Local elections and the parliamentary political dynamics Veli Kreci and Islam Jusufi 39. Romania: A case of national parties ruling local politics Cristina Stanu? and Andrei Gheorghi?a 40. Serbia: Three phases of local electoral politics after 1990 Aleksandar Marinkovic and Novak Gajic 41. Slovenia: Where strong, nonpartisan mayors are reelected many times over Simona Kukovic and Miro Hacek PART 8: Conclusions 42. 'Happily ever after'? Comparing local elections and voting in 40 European countries Adam Gendzwill, Ulrik Kjaer, and Kristof Steyvers

Adam Gendzwill is Assistant Professor in the Department of Local Development and Policy at the University of Warsaw, Poland. Ulrik Kjaer is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense,Denmark. Kristof Steyvers is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Scienceat Ghent University, Belgium.