A research agenda for regional and local government, by MarkCallanan and JohnLoughlinEdward Elgar publishing, 2021. 200 pages. Hardback. £80. ISBN: 9781839106637

Abstract

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 economizing 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, particularly from a fiscal dimension. Second, each chapter congruently situates 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 contemporary increases in direct, plebiscitary, participatory and deliberative initiatives undertaken to empower citizen-rule, what democratic questions does this pose and how may this reconfigure existing democratic practice? Evidently, with shocks from the financial crisis and the cyclical decline in trust in democratic institutions in Western liberal democracies, democratic innovations and novel democratic models may revive participatory malaise. However, particularly in 'representative' 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 benefit 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