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Subnational Government in the Research Spotlight: The Merit of EGPA Permanent Study Group 5

Permanent Study Group 5: Regional and Local Government

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Part of the book series: Governance and Public Management ((GPM))

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Abstract

Kuhlmann, Laffin and Wayenberg point out three main strands of subnational changes that have significantly dominated the research field and focus of Permanent Study Group 5. Elaborating upon the Study Group’s contributions, the chapter overviews relevant research questions, approaches and findings that have been touched upon concerning local and regional government systems, subnational reforms and their evaluation in a multi-level governance setting. The chapter concludes with zooming in on austerity as a main driver of future developments upon and amongst all levels of government.

In the body text of this chapter, all literature references in Italics are connected with the work of PSG 5, be it that the (co)authors are members of PSG 5, be it that the Group activities have directly or indirectly resulted in the respective publications.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We leave aside here the topic of local/regional democracy, as this has mainly been studied by PSG 4 on “Local Governance and Democracy” (see the respective chapter in this volume).

  2. 2.

    The COST Action LocRef is an EU-funded international research network on local public sector reforms with more than 200 senior and early stage researchers in 31 countries chaired by Sabine Kuhlmann (Action Chair) and Geert Bouckaert (Vice-Chair); Martin Laffin and Ellen Wayenberg are Chairs/Co-Chairs of LocRef Working Groups; many LocRef members are also PSG 5 members. LocRef brings together researchers and practitioners of all stages of local public sector reforms in order to jointly assess the hitherto scattered and dispersed information bases on local public sector reforms, to generate new comparative knowledge, and develop policy-relevant frameworks for the design of future modernization processes in Europe.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Potsdam University, Potsdam, Germany

    Sabine Kuhlmann

  2. Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Martin Laffin

  3. Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Ellen Wayenberg

Authors
  1. Sabine Kuhlmann
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  2. Martin Laffin
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  3. Ellen Wayenberg
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Correspondence to Sabine Kuhlmann .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Edoardo Ongaro

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Kuhlmann, S., Laffin, M., Wayenberg, E. (2019). Subnational Government in the Research Spotlight: The Merit of EGPA Permanent Study Group 5. In: Ongaro, E. (eds) Public Administration in Europe. Governance and Public Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92856-2_15

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