This book covered a wide range of questions and aspects related to local governments in Europe and set the landscape where the most vivid and relevant dimensions were highlighted and discussed. The topics addressed in these chapters touch upon three main aspects of research on local governments:

• • Space – The spatial and territorial features of local governments and their changes. Studies testing the size hypothesis are still common in the field and touch all dimensions of local government performance.

• • Scope – What are local government functions, possibilities and autonomy to address some of the most pressing policy issues and contemporary wicked problems? This question is considered within the relation and constant struggle between decentralization and centralization movements – most systems strive to balance but it is still a goal and not an achievement.

• • Power – Who leads the democratic processes at the local level and how is power gained? This question is answered in the context of electoral systems and political parties but also in relation to the interplay between councillors, mayors and civil society.

In the Preface, we have formulated a question on the relevance of the democratic grounds of local government. The proposition behind it was that local government is constantly undergoing substantial changes and reforms that should be discussed on a deep ground of socio-political values. In fact, the common argument, seen in most of the chapters, is the traditional discussion on the economic versus democratic functions of local government.

All chapters present testimonies of ongoing changes and reforms as well as of debates regarding the role of local government in European countries. However, more than a simple confirmation of such movements, the key feature highlighted in the bulk of this book is the clear manifestation of concerns regarding the democratic aspects of governance. The arguments supporting this strong claim can be better understood through a more detailed analysis of the debates within each of its three main aspects.

Space – time, reforms and narratives

The first part of the book deals with what is widely understood as territorial reforms. The topic encompasses boundary changes, trials of such changes, institutional changes of local government significance within horizontal and vertical relations in a given political system, decentralization and re-centralization processes.