Regional Governance and Power in France - (French Politics, Society and Culture) by R Pasquier (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In the shadow of a French national narrative which demonises and rejects local specificities, highly differentiated territorial political spaces have been created, shaped by the dynamics of identity, decentralisation, and public policy. This book analyses regions as loose and flexible political spaces, in which institutionalisation is far from being a one-way process. A variety of actors contribute to the upward, downward and horizontal dynamics which make up these spaces. Institutionalising regional space comprises three dimensions: institutionalisation as a result of cultural, social and political mobilisation; via the implementation of policies for territorial justice and decentralisation; and finally via the deployment of a system of regional governance.This analysis of regional power in France paints a picture of a controversial central state undergoing fundamental changes, and of a decentralised republic at a crossroads. It is essential reading for students and researchers working on issues of territorial governance and decentralisation in France and more widely in Europe"--

Book Synopsis

In the shadow of a French national narrative which demonises and rejects local specificities, highly differentiated territorial political spaces have been created, shaped by identity, decentralisation, and public policy. This book analyses regional power in France and paints a picture of a controversial central state undergoing fundamental changes.

Review Quotes

'This is the definitive English-language study of regions and regionalism in France. It is both historically informed and up to date. Pasquier provides us with a sophisticated analysis of the growing importance of territory in public policy and politics, even in a traditionally centralized state like France.'

Michael Keating, Professor of Politics, University of Aberdeen, Scotland

'This is an excellent book, which combines meticulous empirical detail which a sophisticated theoretical framework for understanding regional political institutions and capacity building in France. It has a comparative and multi-level dimension that makes it all the more significant. The book is impressive in its reach, its depth and its significance. The French region is understood as lying at the confluence of three distinct levels of analysis: as a scale for political mobilisation, as a level of government in a multilayered polity, and as a functional space for reforms driven by the French state and the European Union. Far from the tired stereotypes of the one and indivisble Republic, Pasquier illustrates French sub-national governance in all its diversity. Romain Pasquier is a leading specialist of regions in France and Europe.'

Alistair Cole, Professor of Politics, Cardiff University, UK and Institute of Political Studies, Lyons, France

'Romain Pasquier is one of the leading French and European scholars researching issues of territorial governance. In this volume he brings to bear on the subject of French regions a superb knowledge of their historical and empirical evolution as well as an acute analysis placing the issue in the wider context of contemporary studies of space, identity, governance and mobilisation. The book is destined to become the classic work in English on French regions.'

Professor John Loughlin, Senior Fellow, St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge, UK

About the Author

Romain Pasquier is a CNRS Research Professor (Directeur de recherche) at the 'Centre de recherche sur l'action politique en Europe', Institute of Political Studies, University of Rennes, France. His field of research deals with territorial governance, regionalism and State reform in Europe.