Publication date:
07 February 2013Length of book:
252 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442215986
The importance of subnational regions to politics, governance, and economic development in Western Europe has long been recognized. However, far less is known about recent steps to introduce a regional level of politics in East Central Europe. Reforms there are part of the larger process of crafting democracy; that is, regional reforms are linked to the economic and political transition away from communism and toward “Europe,” specifically the European Union.
Crafting Democracy offers an important comparative analysis of the process and outcomes of region-building in the four Visegrád countries. Jennifer A. Yoder investigates why some but not other post-communist countries chose to introduce a regional level of elected government. In the 1990s, for example, Poland boldly took the lead in regionalization, while the Czech Republic and Slovakia lagged behind. Hungary, meanwhile, declined to create regions. The author argues that these regional reform processes have potentially far-reaching implications for state-society relations, political participation, and policymaking at the domestic level. The emergence of new actors at the subnational level, moreover, creates opportunities for cross-border and European Union–level initiatives.
Crafting Democracy offers an important comparative analysis of the process and outcomes of region-building in the four Visegrád countries. Jennifer A. Yoder investigates why some but not other post-communist countries chose to introduce a regional level of elected government. In the 1990s, for example, Poland boldly took the lead in regionalization, while the Czech Republic and Slovakia lagged behind. Hungary, meanwhile, declined to create regions. The author argues that these regional reform processes have potentially far-reaching implications for state-society relations, political participation, and policymaking at the domestic level. The emergence of new actors at the subnational level, moreover, creates opportunities for cross-border and European Union–level initiatives.
Since the collapse of the communist regimes in 1989, eastern Europe has generally been less supportive of regionalism than western Europe, although the decentralization of the state and the reallocation of power among different levels of government were considered important elements of the democratization process during the 1990s. In this five-chapter book, Yoder (Colby College) asks why this is the case. By comparing and contrasting the central European countries of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, Yoder examines the key role of political elites and political advantage in determining the scope and pace of territorial-administrative reform and regionalization. With chapters dedicated to individual countries, this well-written and well-argued volume will be of interest for students of local government, regional studies, and transition politics in eastern Europe and beyond. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections.