Local elites, political capital and democratic development
Subtitle: governing leaders in seven European countries
By: Stefan Szücs, Lars Strömberg (eds.).
Contributors: Szücs, Stefan.; Strömberg, Lars, 1937-
Edition: 1. Aufl.
Series: Urban and regional research international -- v. 9
Publisher: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Wiesbaden
Language: eng
Number of pages: 386
ISBN-13: 9783531150598; 9783531150598
Subjects: Local government -- Europe -- Case studies.; Central-local government relations -- Europe -- Case studies.; Political capital -- Europe -- Case studies.; Elite (Social sciences) -- Europe -- Case studies.; Europe -- Politics and government -- 1989- -- Case studies.
Genres: Case studies.
Description: This book helps to understand in which ways local governing elites are important for the success or failure of national democratic development. Although we know a great deal about the general importance of civil society and social capital for the development of sustainable democracy, we still know little about what specific local governing qualities or political capital that interact with democratic development. The collected data covers time series of surveys from between 15 to 30 political and administrative leaders in over a hundred middle-sized European and Eurasian cities. The study takes us across the 1980s and 1990s, going from cities in Sweden and the Netherlands - through the Baltic cities - to the cities of Belarus and Russia. The findings show the importance of local political capital based on commitments to core democratic values, informal governance networks, and the significance of initially connecting the community to global, non-economic relationships.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [335]-346).