The bottom-up approach: essential to an apprehension of local autonomy and local governance in the case of Switzerland

Nicolas Keuffer and Katia Horber-Papazian

Local Government Studies, 2020, vol. 46, issue 2, 306-325

Abstract: Local autonomy has been the subject of increasing scrutiny in recent decades. The many studies published, based on indicators on the macro level, show that local autonomy in Switzerland is comparatively high, although its degree varies depending on the canton, the dimension of autonomy and the public policy involved. Some scholars criticise this reductive formal approach. Therefore, this article considers the cantonal legal framework but also follows a bottom-up and sectoral approach. It analyses local autonomy through its various dimensions and its relationship with the choice of governance arrangements for delivering a public service, calling the macro results into question. Methodologically, it is based on interviews in 16 Swiss municipalities selected according to the executive councillors’ perception of autonomy in sport and public-transport policies collected in a comprehensive survey. It emphasises the differences between formal, perceived and effective autonomy and enriches the debate on the various methodological approaches thereto.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/03003930.2019.1635019 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:flgsxx:v:46:y:2020:i:2:p:306-325

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/flgs20

DOI: 10.1080/03003930.2019.1635019

Access Statistics for this article

Local Government Studies is currently edited by Helen Hancock

More articles in Local Government Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().