Theories of Local-government Reorganization - An Empirical-evaluation

Local government reorganization has been widespread throughout Europe in the postwar era. Three broad types of theory have set out to explain this phenomenon in a cross-national context; a welfare state perspective, a functional revolution perspective and a political perspective. The validity of these theories is assessed in the specific context of Belgium. The evidence suggests that none of the prevailing theories can make much headway in explaining the timing and form of reorganization. More promising explanations are to be found through examining broader values, and beliefs and more specific political constellations. The claim or implication that the major local government reorganizations of the postwar era were, in the different countries that experienced it, independent events produced by a common pattern of domestic social, economic or political development has the trappings of scientific theory without its true substance - the ability to explain

' Regionalism - A Reform Concept and its Application to Spain'

Abstract. Regionalism is a notably elusive political idea. In the paper an attempt is first made to identify various propositions that are general among contemporary European regionalists: a commitment to territorial reform of a nonfederal character, a belief that regional autonomy promotes political stability and spreads prosperity, and a notion of complementarity between European integration and internal devolution. In the second part of the paper the relevance of these propositions to Spain are considered