New Directions in Culture and Governance – Serie

Scholars of politics are comfortable theorizing about the parliamentary process and individual political parties, but they are often guilty of ignoring the role of individual citizens except through opinion polls and voting statistics. Even at the local level, the main focus of political theorists has traditionally been on formal systems of government—usually lauding representative democracy as the standard for Western government—while the importance of participatory action at a local level has been vastly underestimated. Correcting this imbalance, the renowned political scholars who contribute to this volume outline both the theory and practice of so-called "extra-formal democracy," wherein societal governance is more accurately described as a "network activity" and citizens, politicians, public administrators and other professionals act together on issues or problems that are defined as public. This new and complex form of democracy—explored here in three unique settings: the United States, the Netherlands, and Denmark—is increasingly regarded as an achievable vision for a multi-faceted theory of government.

Local Politics: A Resource for Democracy in Western Europe examines the relationship between local institutional design and citizens' attitudes toward democracy. Translated by Angelika Vetter, this book is a unique contribution to traditional political culture research, which has focused primarily on national politics. As the last stage in the nation-state administrative apparatus, local authorities represent the synapse between the political-administrative system and the citizens. By comparing attitudes towards local and national politics in a cross-national framework, this book investigates the socialization functions of local politics including the feeling of identification or belonging, the input side of politics, and the citizens' satisfaction with local and national democracy. Following sophisticated analysis, Vetter highlights the conditions under which locally socialized political orientations may serve as a resource for democracy at higher system levels. Local Politics: A Resource for Democracy in Western Europe is a fascinating read for those interested in political science and European studies.