A research agenda for regional and local government, by Mark Callanan and John Loughlin Edward Elgar publishing, 2021. 200 pages. Hardback. £80. ISBN: 9781839106637

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Christopher Robertson
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2714

BOOK REVIEW

A research agenda for regional and local government

Edited by Mark Callanan jJohn Loughlin

Edward Elgar publishing, 2021. 200 pages. Hardback. £80. ISBN: 9781839106637

A Research Agenda for Regional and Local Government by Mark

Callanan and John Loughlin is a forward-looking edited collection

which attempts to construct and justify exploratory scholarship on

regional and local government (Callanan & Loughlin, 2021). The book

is compartmentalised thematically and comparatively, predominantly

focusing upon the global north. Yet, chapter 5 also acknowledges that

future research agendas should explore the global south given the

dearth of literature in this area. As such, each chapter in this book,

exploring areas from territorial restructuring (chapter 2) to economiz-

ing imaginaries of city-regionalism (chapter 6), situates its focus upon

several consistent areas. First, each chapter attempts to locate

research within the context of the 2008 financial crisis, determining

how this monumental event impacted upon different areas of regional

and local governance. For example, how did the 2008 financial crisis

affect metropolitinization, and how did austerity measures affect

regional and local administration? Therefore, each chapter adheres to

this consistent theme, with the broad conclusion that following 2008,

the financial crisis had a notable effect upon territorial issues, particu-

larly from a fiscal dimension. Second, each chapter congruently situ-

ates developments within the research area into future scholarship,

attempting to underscore gaps in previous literature and rationalise

future research endeavours. For example, in chapter 9, given contem-

porary increases in direct, plebiscitary, participatory and deliberative

initiatives undertaken to empower citizen-rule, what democratic ques-

tions does this pose and how may this reconfigure existing democratic

practice? Evidently, with shocks from the financial crisis and the cycli-

cal decline in trust in democratic institutions in Western liberal

democracies, democratic innovations and novel democratic models

may revive participatory malaise. However, particularly in 'representa-

tive' democracies, this will require careful consideration as to how this

foundational shift may be operationalized by governments and how

this paradigm may alter citizen-state relations as currently practiced.

This forward-looking research agenda is welcomed, and is intended to

spur future scholarship examining these areas that will not only bene-

fit academic audiences, but also be of interest to policymakers and

practitioners. This review will now appraise each of the 11 chapters of

this book before concluding and offering remarks.

Chapter 1 is a general introduction. This chapter attempts to

rationalise the context for research by situating the development of

subnational government and regionalism from the 1980s until the

financial crisis. Immediately, the financial crisis is located as the core

thematic component of enquiry, paving the way for the following

chapters to explore the impact of the crisis upon different compo-

nents of regional and local governance. Justifications for undertaking

thematic research are provided, with the comparative scope of the

book welcomed. This is particularly important considering the differ-

ence in regional and local structures across national governance

(e.g., unitary vs. federal structuration), providing greater analytical rig-

our and depth than if the chapters were confined to sole cases. Fur-

thermore, at the outset, and a theme that is continuous throughout,

Callanan and Loughlin appreciate the wider socio-political and eco-

nomic context of the 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, it is

acknowledged that, at the time of writing during 2020, robust aca-

demic conclusions regarding regional and local governance were

unable to be drawn. Yet, each chapter briefly considers potential

implications of this contemporary crisis. As such, each chapter locates

justifications for future research agendas on regional and local govern-

ment and it is duly acknowledged that a myriad of future scholarship

should consider the effect of COVID-19 upon reconfiguring themes

identified throughout the book. For example, its impact upon territo-

rial restructuring, the impact of reconfigured fiscal arrangements, and

COVID-19's effect upon territorial amalgamation.

Chapter 2 focuses upon local and regional autonomy. Before

introducing the reader to the Regional Authority and Local Authority

indexes and fiscal decentralization data, the chapter boldly aims to

synthesise these measures to propose a typology of intergovernmen-

tal relations. This is no small task, and future research, as suggested,

must follow this pioneering study. Preliminarily, given the measure-

ment differences of each index, it is difficult to synthesise findings

and insights from each model. Yet, the purpose of doing so is in

attempt to, provisionally, indicate whether the financial crisis affected

regionalism and the broader impact of the crisis upon areas such as

intergovernmental relations and borrowing autonomy. As such, this

typology is pioneering and future scholarship on this area is wel-

comed, particularly amidst the COVID-19 crisis and its potential

reconfiguration of decentralization and regional authority following

the financial crisis.

Chapter 3 considers the importance of amalgamations, secessions

and the financial crisis upon territorial restructuring in Europe, largely

within a municipal capacity, but also, to a lesser extent, in the upper

Received: 18 June 2021 Accepted: 20 June 2021

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2714

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https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2714