Fragmented governance and spatial equity in metropolitan areas: the role of intergovernmental cooperation and revenue-sharing

This article focuses on policies seeking to address social inequalities in metropolitan areas, where the allocation of resources to places with needs often clashes with the politics of redistribution in fragmented local government systems. Scholarship on metropolitan governance has yet to overcome the opposition between proponents of consolidation and defenders of polycentrism. The crucial open question is whether and how intergovernmental cooperation and revenue-sharing can redress spatial equity in institutionally fragmented metropolitan areas. This article addresses this question by exploring the determinants of social expenditures in the 630 municipalities of seven major metropolitan areas in Switzerland, where revenue-sharing systems are common. The analysis shows that intergovernmental grants make a significant but limited contribution to reducing the mismatch between needs and resources in fragmented and decentralized metropolitan areas, depending on the redistributive efforts made by higher state levels

Eidgenössische Wahlen 1995: Parteien - 1995

Research object: the national elections of 22 October 1995, i.e. the elections to the National Council and - in most cantons - the elections to the Council of States. Objectives: Analysis of electoral behaviour - participation in elections, election outcome - at federal and cantonal level. Questions: important political questions concerning the behaviour, knowledge, views and motives of voters. The impact on voting behaviour of factors such as size and composition of the party landscape, selection of candidates, intensity and type of campaign, institutional characteristics, etc. In particular, the following topics are dealt with: the motives (choices of party, candidates and issues) of a voter (Prof. Linder). The institutional determinants of the decision (Delgrande). Change in the electoral landscape 1979-1995 (Ruth Nabholz). The main focus of the data collection was a standardised telephone survey of the Swiss population, in which the subjective view of the voters was collected. In addition to these interviews, information on the institutional and socio-economic conditions of the individual cantons as well as information on the candidates for the Council of States and election campaigns in selected cantons were collected. This wide range of background data enables analyses to be carried out taking into account the cantonal characteristics.Forschungsobjekt: die nationalen Wahlen vom 22. Oktober 1995. Das heisst die Nationalratswahlen und – in den meisten Kantonen – die Ständeratswahlen. Ziele: Analyse des Wahlverhaltens – Wahlteilnahme, Wahlentscheid – auf Bundes- und Kantonsebene. Fragestellung: wichtige politische Fragen in bezug auf das Verhalten, die Kenntnisse, die Ansichten und die Motive der StimmbürgerInnen. Die Auswirkungen auf das Wahlverhalten von Faktoren wie Grösse und Zusammensetzung der Parteienlanschaft, Auswahl an Kandidaten, Intensität und Art der Kampagne, institutionelle Besonderheiten usw. Insbesondere werden die folgenden Themen behandelt: die Beweggründe (Parteienwahl, Personenwahl und Issuewahl) eines Wählers (Prof. Linder). Die institutionellen Determinanten des Entscheids (Delgrande). Wandel in der Wählerlandschaft 1979-1995 (Ruth Nabholz). Im Zentrum der Datenerhebung stand eine telefonische, standardisierte Befragung der Schweizer Bevölkerung, mit welcher die subjektive Sicht der Wahberechtigten erfasst wurde. Ergänzend zu diesen Interviews wurden Informationen über die institutionellen und sozioökonomischen Gegebenheiten der einzelnen Kantone sowie Informationen über die StänderatskandidatInnen und Wahlkampagnen in ausgewählten Kantonen gesammelt. Dieses breite Spektrum an Hintergrunddaten ermöglicht Analysen unter Berücksichtigung der jeweiligen kantonalen Eigenheiten