I. Working Group on Local Government

WG Programme Coordinators:

Gabor Soos, Political Science Institute of Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

E-mail: gabor.soos@mtapti.hu

Arto Haveri, University of Tampere, School of Management, Finland

E-mail: atarha@uta.fi

The 9th year of the Working Group on Local Government focuses on the causes of decentralisation of local government systems in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Our region has seen substantial variations of intergovernmental relations during the last 25 years. The competences, discretion and access of local governments have been varied not only geographically but also in time. What accounts for the different trajectories of centralisation and decentralisation? In the Working Group on Local Government, we are trying to gain an illuminating insight into local government reforms by thoroughly discussing certain historical cases from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The presentation and discussion of country cases and cross-country comparisons are expected to sensitize participants to a deeper understanding of (de)centralisation processes.

WG coordinators invite papers in the following categories:

1. Conceptual frameworks which help us to understand centralisation and decentralisation waves at the level of political-administrative systems. Papers that explicitly reflect CEE or CIS problems are especially welcome.

2. Empirical papers which tell stories of successful or failed (de)centralisation efforts in CEE or CIS. We expect case studies in a structured manner, with the emphasis on the relevant systemic factors and the general conclusions.

3. Comparative papers which highlight the similarities and differences between (de)centralisation reforms are strongly encouraged.

Beyond this year's theme, one or two of the panels will be devoted to high-quality papers dealing with topics which are not related to local government leadership, but which contribute to local government studies in CEE and CIS or the annual theme of the NISPAcee conference.

The papers to be presented at the workshop in 2016 are expected to contribute both to LG studies and to administrative and other social sciences in general. The coordinators hope to find the opportunity to publish a selected set of contributions.