Publisher's Synopsis
In this book Edward Page examines the legal and political basis of relationships between national and local government in seven countries: Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Spain.;His study reveals significantly different approaches to the division of responsibility between central and local government: in some countries local government has responsibility for a wide range of public services, while in others these services are delivered by national and other non-local bodies; the countries respective national governments oversee the operation of local government with varying degrees of stringency; and the degree of influence local politicians exert over their national counterparts is very varied.;Dr Page argues that these differences originate in the distinctive patterns of development experienced in southern and northern Europe and goes on to examine implications of his findings for patterns of policy making at the local level.;The author applies a broad theoretical framework to a larger number of nations than is usual among comparative studies of local government and the conclusions he draws should be relevant to a range of countries not included in his detailed analysis.
