Books

Multilevel Democracy: How Local Institutions and Civil Society Shape the Modern State (Cambridge University Press, 2020)

Jefferey M. Sellers (University of Southern California,  USA) | Anders  Lidström (Umeå University, Sweden) | Yooil Bae (Dong-A University, formerly Fulbright University Vietnam)

This volume presents the first systematic comparative analysis of national traditions of local democracy across the developed world, as well as their origins and evolution. It reveals how inclusive local institutions that integrate national and local governance make democracy work better. Across most of the developed world, early forms of the national state entrenched the local power of elites. In Anglo-American and Swiss democracies, state formation imposed enduring tensions with local civic governance. In contrast, inclusive, integrative local institutions in Northern Europe enabled close links with central government around common local and national agendas, producing better governance and fuller democracy to the present day. Through comparative analysis, the authors demonstrate how institutions for local governance and the participation of civil society differ widely among developed democracies, and how local democracy relates to national democracy. The resulting insights fundamentally recast our understanding of how to build and maintain more effective democracies. 

<Book Endorsement>

‘This book restores local democracy to its rightful place at the center of our understanding of national politics. Through an illuminating, comparative historical analysis, the authors show that systematic variations in local political incorporation have laid down enduring differences in the character of multilevel democracy, with far-reaching consequences for policymaking and the quality of democracy. A must-read!'

Christopher Ansell - University of California, Berkeley

‘Local governments are often overlooked in discussions on the formation of modern democracies. This insightful and carefully researched book shows why they should not be: local institutional incorporation in the nation state is historically meaningful for democracies.'

Merilee S. Grindle - Harvard University

‘Multilevel Democracy offers an original and fascinating account of institutional endurance and change. The authors' analyses challenges our understanding of state formation, political mobilization, and institutions. Perhaps most importantly, they show the role of local democracy and institutions in developing democratic states, and the significance of ‘vertical circuits of power and influence' between institutions at different levels of the polity in shaping and sustaining democracy. If Acemoglu and Robinson, in their seminal work, showed the importance of good institutions for economic growth, Sellers, Lidström and Bae show a similar pattern for the development of democracy and governance. This book should be required readings for all students of democracy, institutions and governance.'

Jon Pierre - Göteborgs universitet

‘A breakthrough book in comparative urban analysis! Following in the tradition of Tocqueville, the trio of Sellers, Lidstrom, and Bae provide a multi-national treatment of how state and civil society are interwoven with local-national relations. Resisting the temptation to retreat into vague abstractions about multiscalar politics, the authors use a much-needed comparative approach that grounds their work in examinations of cross-national experiences. During an era in which democratic advancement faces numerous obstacles, Multilevel Democracy offers lessons that can be applied in a time of great challenges. By emphasizing the important role of civil society, this book moves scholarship beyond a limited political-economy conception into a framework that is more accommodating to the vital part that civil society plays in shaping governance in today's world.'

Clarence N. Stone - George Washington University

Cambridge University Press Website, link

The book will be published early this year (Cambridge Comparative Politics series)

한국의 이중적 지방민주주의: 아이디어, 제도, 그리고 다양한 지방분권 (2018, 문우사)

2019년 한국지방자치학회 저술상 수상작 | 2019년 세종도서 학술부문 선정

고전적 의미의 지방자치와 민주주의가 고유의 가치를 점차 잃어가고 있는 전 세계적 현실에서, 지방에 더 많은 권한과 재원을 이양하고 주민참여의 확대를 도모하는 천편일률적 지방분권 전략은 목표와 수단이 전도된 집착에 가까운 것일지도 모른다. 오히려 가장 잘 작동하면서도 질 높은 지방 민주주의를 시행하고 있는 북유럽의 노르딕 국가들은 지방에 자율성 부여뿐만 아니라 높은 수준의 책임도 함께 요구하며, 국가-사회, 중앙-지방 관계에서의 수평적, 수직적 네트워크를 확장하여 매우 밀접한 협력체제를 발전시켜왔다. 이처럼 지방분권 자체가 목표가 아닌, 국민을 행복하게 하는 잘 작동하는 '생활양식'으로서의 지방 민주주의는 이분법적인 중앙-지방 나누기가 아니라, 국가 중심의 계층적 조직에서 지방사회 깊숙한 시민사회에 이르기까지 포괄적이면서도 공식적 제도를 넘어서는 협력체제 구축을 필요로 한다. 

교보문고 | 반디앤루니스 | 알라딘 | 인터파크도서 | Yes24 주문가능

South Korea's Dual Local Democracy: Ideas, Institutions, and Varieties of Decentralization

Mega-Events and Mega Ambitions: South Korea's Rise and the Strategic Use of the Big Four Events (2017, Palgrave Macmillan).

Yu-Min Joo (National University of Singapore) | Yooil Bae (Singapore Management University) | Eva Kassens-Noor (Michigan State University).

This book provides a holistic analysis of South Korea’s strategic use of mega-events in its modern development. It examines the Summer Olympics (1988), the World Expo (1993), the FIFA World Cup (2002), and the Winter Olympics (2018) over the past 30 years of the country’s rapid growth, and across varying stages of economic and political development. It explains how mega-events helped to secure South Korea’s position on the international stage, boost nationalism, propel economic growth in export-oriented national companies, and build cities that accommodate – as well as represent – South Korea’s progress. It thereby highlights the broader implications for today’s global phenomenon of increasing reliance on mega-events as a catalyst for development, while the criticism that mega-events do more harm than good proliferates. The book is ideal for academics, policymakers, and those with an interest in mega-events and their role in the development of non-western countries. 

Order: Palgrave Macmillan | Amazon.com Chapter by chapter download available