Horizontal Intergovernmental Coordination in Europe

“Nathalie Behnke and Bettina Petersohn have made a significant contribution by shedding light on the dynamics of horizontal intergovernmental coordination from various angles and perspectives. I am confident that this volume will be an invaluable resource for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to understand the importance of effective horizontal coordination and multilevel governance."

– Felix Knüpling, Vice President, Forum of Federations

The most pressing policy challenges of our time require complex and coordinated strategies that transcend territorial borders. Issues such as climate mitigation, sustainable development and the migration crisis all require policy solutions that compel sub-national governments at regional and local level to coordinate intensely with others across policy sectors, territorial units and state boundaries. Yet horizontal coordination is often rendered difficult due to complexities and high transaction costs, both in terms of time and effort.

Adopting a comparative approach, this open access volume provides a unifying perspective and a shared conceptual tool-kit for analysing the nature, intricacies and possibilities of horizontal coordination at local and regional level. It also offers guidelines and recommendations for achieving coordination in everyday policymaking. Bringing together scholars and practitioners from twenty European countries, the book provides profound insights into patterns of horizontal coordination across the continent. It will appeal to scholars and students of public administration, public policy, governance and territorial politics, as well as practitioners and policy makers.

Nathalie Behnke is Professor and Head of the working group 'Public Administration, Public Policy' at the Institute of Political Science, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.

Bettina Petersohn is Senior Lecturer in Politics at Swansea University, UK.