Abstract
The purpose of the chapter is to analyse variations in local policy autonomy across countries and over time. Policy autonomy refers to the tasks that local authorities perform and the discretion they enjoy in the performance of those tasks. Policy autonomy is at the heart of local democracy as it sets the range of policy choice open to the elected representatives serving on local councils and therefore also the potential range of political choices presented to local voters. Policy choices drive political competition and accountability. Policy autonomy has increased over the time period analysed here in most of the countries included in the study. In some countries, the increase is rather marginal; in other countries policy autonomy has grown substantially. Nevertheless, the most remarkable finding is the range over variation in policy autonomy still existing across European countries, with the Nordic countries leading in terms of policy autonomy while Black Sea countries lag behind. This contrast has persisted throughout the period. The chapter analyses, furthermore, policy autonomy in detail, policy by policy. European countries also vary as regards the range of functions allocated to local government as well as the amount of discretion granted in performing the respective functions. The functional variation across countries suggests that the development of local policy autonomy in European countries follows distinctly national trajectories.
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Notes
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Factor analysis of 12 PS sub-dimensions with eigenvalue set at 1.0 yields four factors. Factor 1: HOUSING+: PS_Housing01_2014, PS_Landuse_Zoning01_2014 PS_Socialassistance_Othersocialsecurity01_2014, PS_Education_Buildings01_2014
Factor 2: HEALTH: PS_Health_Healthcenters01_2014, PS_Health_Doctorspayments01_2014
Factor 3: BUILDING PERMITS +: PS_Landuse_Buildingpermits01_2014, PS_Socialassistance_Povertyrelief01_2014
Factor 4: EDUCATION +: PS_Education_Teachers01_2014, PS_Publictransport01_2014 (and strong negative association with police: -.773)
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Ladner, A. et al. (2019). Functional Responsibilities. In: Patterns of Local Autonomy in Europe. Governance and Public Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95642-8_4
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