Overview

The contributors of this book explore the role and influence of political leadership through a comparative analysis of regional-level dynamics in Europe. Through case studies that centre around three dimensions, economy, institutions and identity, this book argues against an excessive reliance on macro-determinism, either ""from above"" or ""from below"". The cases provide evidence regarding the role of political agency for territorial governance between the double pressure of globalization and Europeanization on the one side and local culture on the other. Taken together they show that agency can apply both at the level of institutions, which therefore do not automatically converge under the pressure of globalization and Europeanization and at the level of identity, which therefore does not necessarily mirror the existing political culture. Regional government does ""work"", both in the sense that territorial entities engage in real political choices and that these choices often result in effective outcomes.

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9780742500822

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Reviews

[This book offers] a wealth of research and findings for those interesting in the Europeanization of Southern Europe...[and] constitutes an important challenge to much political science literature of the past decade. South European Society and Politics

[This book offers] a wealth of research and findings for those interesting in the Europeanization of Southern Europe...[and] constitutes an important challenge to much political science literature of the past decade. * South European Society and Politics *

Author Information

Jeanie Bukowski is assistant professor of international studies at Bradley University. Simona Piattoni is associate professor of political science in the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Trento, Italy. Marc Smyrl is program administrator of the Denver International School.

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