Vivien A. Schmidt

Democratizing France

The Political and Administrative History of Decentralization

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The focus of this book is on the decentralization reforms legislated by the Socialist government in France from 1982 to 1986. These reforms redefined the role of the central state in the periphery and gave extensive new powers to territorial governments. In order to assess more fully the causes and effects of this recent decentralization, Vivien Schmidt examines these reforms and their impact in comparative historical perspective. Tracing the history of decentralization from the French Revolution to the present, the book highlights the significant reforms at the beginning of the Third Republic in the 1870s. It then analyses the actual impact of the reforms of both the 1870s and the 1980s on local government institutions and processes. Professor Schmidt uses an innovative mix of methods borrowed from political sociology and cultural anthropology, combined with historical analysis and extensive interviews with national and local politicians and civil servants. She provides important theoretical insights into the changing nature of the French state in addition to revealing significant historical patterns, particularly in the parallel between the role of decentralization in the Third and Fifth Republics.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Cambridge University Press
• Seitenzahl: 420
• Erscheinungstermin: 31. Januar 2007
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 25mm
• Gewicht: 679g
• ISBN-13: 9780521036054
• ISBN-10: 0521036054
• Artikelnr.: 22708568

Inhaltsangabe

Preface; Part I. The Political History of Decentralization from the French
Revolution to the Present: Introduction: when political interest leads to
disinterested politics; 1. The legislative history of recurring
centralization from the French Revolution to the Third Republic; 2. The
triumph of decentralization during the Third Republic; 3. The unsuccessful
push for decentralization from the Fourth Republic through the conservative
Fifth Republic; 4. Legislating decentralization in the administration of
local government: the reforms of the socialist Fifth Republic; 5.
Legislating decentralization in the politics of local government; Part II.
The Impact of Decentralization on Local Politics and Administration:
Introduction: when informal rules become formal roles; 6. When informal
rules counter formal roles: local government before the socialist reforms
of the Fifth Republic; 7. Rhetoric versus reality in local government:
local politics and administration before the socialist Fifth Republic; 8.
When informal rules become formal roles: the new pluralism in the
institutions and processes of local government; 9. Unblocking society by
decree: the transformation of the politico-administrative system; 10. A new
rhetoric and a new reality in local government: local politics and
administration in the socialist Fifth Republic and beyond; Conclusion;
Bibliography; Index.