This book explores sub-municipal units' (SMU) role in decision making, decentralized institutional innovation, social innovation and, in rural areas, service delivery. Focusing on fourteen European countries, the book examines the impact of political cultures, administrative traditions and local government systems on the functioning of the SMUs. An under-explored topic in the literature, this book provides a comprehensive, comparative European, thematically broad, descriptive book on sub-municipal governance.
Nikolaos-Komninos Hlepas is Professor at the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
Norbert Kersting is Chair for Comparative Politics, Local and Regional Governance at the Department of Political Science, University of Muenster, Germany.
Sabine Kuhlmann is Professor of Political Science, Administration and Organization at the University of Potsdam, Germany.
Pawel Swianiewicz is Professor of Economics and Head of the Department of Local Development and Policy at the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland.
Filipe Teles is Assistant Professor and member of the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy at the University of Aveiro, Portugal.
