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Governing the Metropolis: Towards Kinder, Gentler Democracies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Daniel Kübler
Daniel Kübler*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Zurich, Affolternstrasse 56, Zu¨rich 50, Switzerland
*
E-mail: Daniel.Kuebler@ipz.uzh.ch
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Abstract

Based on a review of experiences in Lyons, Stuttgart and London, this article reflects upon the implications of metropolitanisation for democracy. It examines the institutional set-up of metropolitan authorities, the election procedures of representatives as well as dynamics of decision-making within them. In spite of contrasted institutional settings, political logics and territorial interest representation are present in policy-making at the metropolitan level to a strikingly similar extent. This results in power-sharing strategies among the major political forces and a move away from majoritarian towards more consensual patterns of decision-making.

Keywords

metropolitan governancepatterns of democracycomparative local government

Information

Type
Symposium
Information
European Political Science , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , September 2012 , pp. 430 - 445
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 European Consortium for Political Research

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