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Joined-up government seems to be able to present itself in various forms of being understood in several ways. It is therefore subject to various interpretations and divergent views. Some contend that joined-up government is inherently centralizing hence it is disadvantageous for the devolved units of the government, some on the other hand argue that joined-up government is not essentially centralizing. This chapter evaluates New Labour's initial efforts at stimulating joining-up at the local level by detailing the rise of the multitude partnership bodies since New Labour rose into power. The chapter also discusses the top-down-driven policy style that New Labour adopted in their efforts for partnerships. This style caused chaotic repercussions in the local and regional governance. Discussed as well in the chapter are the ways in which New Labour tried to localize joined-up government. The first method was the premise of adopting autonomy for the local government to pursue community leadership at the local level while the second method proposed earned autonomy or constrained discretion wherein the local government can lead and yet be under the guidance of the central government. Both of these models of governance are considered here to determine whether they can be institutionalized. The last section of the chapter presents a discussion on the seemingly centralizing nature of joined-up government.

This chapter analyses the conditions for successful collective action in the local level management of common property resources (CPRs). It discusses the problem of economic incentives, the twin issues of group size and homogeneity, the rationale and characteristics of the sanction system, and the role of tradition.

Chapter 2 discusses the characteristics of and the relationship between European and local social and employment policies. It starts with an overview on EU cohesion policy and characterises the ESF as a specific governance tool which nowadays combines financial, programmatic and procedural aspects in a unique manner. In a second step, the chapter discusses the crucial role of the local level in current activation policies. Chapter 2 argues that the local level deserves specific attention and should not be subsumed under national welfare systems. Furthermore, the streamlined EU cohesion policy and particularly the ESF establish a stronger direct link between the European and the local level and confront local actors with new opportunities and challenges.

This chapter focuses on three key issues: firstly, the necessity of a shared vision; secondly, whether or not to trust the food industry; and thirdly, what should be done next. In order to move forward, a shared vision is needed of the causes of obesity and a philosophy of prevention. The strategy of trying to increase personal responsibility has not worked. Instead, the focus must be shifted to changing the environment so that it facilitates healthy eating behaviours and physical activity. The next question to be asked is: can the food instustry be trusted? In watching the behaviour of the food industry in recent years, their strategies have become apparent. The chapter describes elements of the food industry ‘playbook’ and questions the influence of the industry on the government. Finally, it recommends a number of targeted actions. Among these are making policy changes to protect children from commercialism, and creating coalitions with groups concerned about the environment and sustainability. Finally, the chapter also describes a more productive role for the food industry, and ends with example innovations that have succeeded at the local level.

This chapter examines whether social disorganization theory is relevant to the criminology of place. Do characteristics of social disorganization cluster at a very local level of geography? Are there hot spots of social disorganization as there are hot spots of crime and crime opportunities? Perhaps most important, do characteristics of social disorganization vary within larger areas of geography such as communities and neighborhoods? If characteristics of social disorganization vary only at higher geographic units, then the theory's salience for understanding the variability at micro units of geography would be limited. But if such traits vary greatly within neighborhoods and across street segments, then social disorganization theory must be considered as a potential explanatory perspective in the criminology of place.

Chapter 5 presents insights how local responses to the ESF look like, both in a qualitative and descriptive manner, and in a more formalised, quantified way. In a first step, the chapter presents descriptive snapshots how usages of Europe look like in the empirical reality and then illustrates the situation across the 18 local cases. The same is done for ESF-induced change. In a final step, the chapter draws a comparative picture of local patterns of usage and change. Here, three different configurations of usage and change stand out empirically: cases where no usage and no change was observed, cases with usage but no change, and cases with both usage and change.

Chapter 6 unravels the contextual conditions enabling the three different response-patterns – 1) no usage, no change. 2) usage without change, and 3) usage and change – described in the previous chapter. The chapter presents in a fist step the results of formal QCA-analyses, which reveal a number of relevant conditions both for usage (e.g. administrative capacity or political stability), and for change (e.g. cognitive engagement or public support structures). The results are then summarised in a preliminary typology of local responses to the ESF, describing specific contextual settings for each of the three patterns.

This chapter extends the analysis from the previous chapter to the second dimension of advocacy and election: venue choice. This second half of the reflective electoral representation theory argues that these organizations next look to the political and power position of immigrants to make a strategic decision about where to focus an electoral agenda. The chapter presents an analysis of the factors related to an immigrant-serving nonprofit engaging in elections primarily at the national, state, or local level. The chapter shows that when dramatic local events occur, such as a hate crime, nonprofits tend to focus their work at that level rather than at the state or national level; but when the size of the local immigrant community is large, the group will focus more on the state or national level.

This chapter studies how the consular assessment of the local elites was later adopted by higher Ottoman officials as they implemented a westernist theory of centralized bureaucratic government. As a result, both officials and consuls during the late nineteenth century were continually surprised to find that the local elites were able to manipulate, and even challenge, the central government at the local level.

A parasitic disease transmitted through human activities taking place in or near canals, slow-moving streams, and lakes in tropical and subtropical countries is known as schistosomiasis. When schistosomiasis victims first become infected they suffer intestinal disorders, nutritional deficiencies, and general debilitation. It has been recognized as a serious health problem in Egypt for the last 150 years, although infection levels fell sharply during the 1990s. Social scientists look beyond immediate happenings at the local level to examine the broader political and economic structures that form part of the greater whole within which the immediate events occur. They look at infection as the result of daily activities carried out by various groups of people in specific social settings.

This chapter suggests that the three dimensions of solidarity identified by Banting and Kymlicka—civic, democratic, and redistributive—can be associated with different levels of political community, each with its own citizenship regime. The local level defines citizenship in terms of residency, forming a society of co-residents, and this can sustain civic solidarity; the national or state level defines citizenship in terms of birthright, forming a transgenerational people, and this can sustain redistributive solidarity; and finally the regional level defines citizenship in derivative terms, linking it with state citizenship, and binding together interdependent polities that share a common destiny, which can sustain democratic solidarity. The chapter argues that the institutional features of multilevel citizenship have to be complemented by collective identity narratives, which are currently neither balanced nor coordinated, and need to change to build the sort of solidarity required for contemporary multi-level politics.

In the chapter on policy analysis in the municipal sphere, Marta Farah shows, from a historical standpoint and in the light of the importance of the problems at different conjunctures, how knowledge was mobilised for local government programmes. The initial, 19th century emphasis on urban and housing problems shifted to the interface between urbanism and developmentalism in the first half of the 20th century, in keeping with the State's role as the agent of development, especially from the 1930s onwards. The patterns of policy analysis produced by municipal institutions varied according to the political regime in place in Brazil: under the military regime, centralisation and planning; with the democratic regime after 1988, decentralisation and civil society participation, together with a strengthening of municipal agendas addressing social problems. A number of policies embodied an endeavour to articulate among management, social participation and the collegiate bodies set up between government and civil society organisations, which were to become sources in the production of policy options and solutions.

Dependent older people with complex needs often require integrated provision of health and social care services. This chapter shows that the huge number of studies, experimentations and polices carried out, so far, internationally, to pursue this goal have proved that there is no single best recipe to meet integrated care needs. Integrated care needs to become a priority at system level because recognizing its importance on the political agenda is an essential pre-condition to pursuing this goal. Policy-makers, however, should not prescribe how to obtain integrated care: they should, instead, respect the idea that integration is local and there will be differences in how it is pursued across different areas. How to arrange the services and how to involve the different professions in order to obtain integration are choices to make locally, the chapter argues, letting local conditions and opportunities to guide the process

Despite the many efforts of the European institutions to orientate in favour of youth policies, despite their attempts to designate priorities and to organise decisions in a comprehensive way, youth policies, at least in national arenas, seem to remain weak, fragmented and poorly funded. Our hypothesis is that a deep hiatus exists between the multiplicities of political discourses on youth on the one hand and the weakness of youth policies on the other hand. One might say that the emphasis on youth participation actually reflects the weakness of youth policies and the lack of strong political will and strategy regarding youth; participation takes the place of political aims and strategies. The discourse on youth participation implies that policy contents are actually being replaced by policy procedures. One explanation for this discrepancy is that youth policies belong at least partly to the category of symbolic public policy. To develop our argument, we first concentrate on the difficulties inherent in defining youth policies and then examine the various fragilities of youth policies at all stages of the decision making process.

The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of contemporary party systems in the UK by way of context for the detailed account of party politics in the chapters which follow. It starts by defining the term ‘party system’ before highlighting the difference between party systems under majoritarian and consensus models of democracy and considering various ways of classifying party systems. It then surveys the varieties of party system found at Westminster, devolved, and local levels. It argues that the classic two-party system label now obscures as much as it reveals. If it does still apply, then it is mainly at the level of Westminster politics; even there, however, the minor parties have become more relevant in both the electoral and legislative arenas—and even, on occasion, in the executive arena.

The events leading up to and surrounding the annexation of Cyprus from Ptolemaic Egypt by Rome and the administration of the island have been studied at length. For the sake of brevity, this chapter summarizes key details in light of recent scholarly interpretations of the events that occurred throughout this period of transition in the island’s history (from Ptolemaic to Roman, then back to Ptolemaic rule, before securely returning to Roman rule once and for all in 30 BC). Literary evidence has been crucial for understanding the organization and character of Roman administration of the island from 58 to 22 BC. After 22 BC, literary references of the identities and activities of Roman officials posted to the island are sparse, and from here on it is the material record that is most instructive. This chapter examines familiar, previously overlooked, and new material, to analyse further the nature of local interactions with Rome’s representatives. The available evidence for the proconsuls of Roman Cyprus significantly outweighs information for other officials; therefore, this study deals only with their representation and does not address records of their subordinates. The following features of the epigraphic, numismatic, and literary sources will be examined: where monuments were set up, by whom and why; the use of epithets; and in general, the use of epigraphic conventions and language. This chapter presents a revised list of proconsuls before closing with discussion of local levels of administration—notably the koinon Kuprion