Local Governance in the Global Context

Local governance has become a subject of particular interest even in the context of globalization. As bottom-up strategy it aims at increasing opportunities for civil society to engage in affairs of their own. As top-down strategy it wants to mobilize all endogenous potential available to improve political steering capacity. This book examines theoretical approaches towards citizens' participation and provides case studies that indicate a varied menu of contemporary local democracies, urban and regional governance in Europe (Germany, Sweden, Italy), Asia (Korea, Taiwan) and the U.S.

Chin-peng Chu is Professor, Institute of Public Administration, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien/ROC Taiwan; he is also Minister of the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission, The Cabinet/ROC Taiwan.

Alexander Grasse is Professor, Institute for Political Science, University of Giessen/Germany.

Sang-Chul Park is Professor, Graduate School of Knowledge based Technology and Energy, Korea Polytechnic University and Adjunct Professor in Business Economics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

Markus Porsche-Ludwig is Associate Professor, Institute of Public Administration, National Dong Hwa University/ROC Taiwan.