Democratic Representation in Multi-level Systems: The Vices and Virtues of Regionalisation

This comprehensive volume studies the vices and virtues of regionalisation in comparative perspective, including countries such as Belgium, Germany, Spain, and the UK, and discusses conditions that might facilitate or hamper responsiveness in regional democracies. It follows the entire chain of democratic responsiveness, starting from the translation of citizen preferences into voting behaviour, up to patterns of decision-making and policy implementation.

Many European democracies have experienced considerable decentralisation over the past few decades. This book explores the key virtues which may accompany this trend, such as regional-level political authorities performing better in understanding and implementing citizens’ preferences. It also examines how, on the other hand, decentralisation can come at a price, especially since the resulting multi-level structures may create several new obstacles to democratic representation, including information, responsibility and accountability problems.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal West European Politics.

Thomas Däubler is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research, Germany. He studies electoral systems, party competition and legislative politics. His work has been published in journals including the European Journal of Political Research, Journal of Politics, and Legislative Studies Quarterly.

Jochen Müller is Assistant Professor in Political Sociology at the University of Greifswald, Germany. His research interests include legislative behaviour, government formation and party competition. His work has been published in journals including Electoral Studies, European Union Politics, Political Analysis, and Regional Studies.

Christian Stecker is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research, Germany. His research focuses on party competition and legislative politics. His work has been published in journals including the European Journal of Political Research, Political Analysis, West European Politics, and Party Politics.