Rise of Common Political Order

Edited by Jarle Trondal, Professor, ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder, Norway, and Senior Fellow, Institute of European Studies, University of California, Berkeley, USA

• Contents: 1. Conceptualizing Common Political Order: An IntroductionJarle TrondalPART I POLITICAL ORDER AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL2. A Research Agenda on International Public Administration Jarle Trondal3. The Rise of international Public Administration: Observations from the International Atomic Energy Agency Jarle Trondal4. The Rise of Independent Supranational Administration: The case of the European Union administration Jarle Trondal5. The Rise of International Accountability Institutions: The case of the European Parliament and the European OmbudsmanJarle Trondal, Anchrit Wille and Anne Elizabeth StiePART II POLITICAL ORDER AT THE MACRO-REGIONAL LEVEL6. Macro-regional Strategies of the European Union: A new research agendaTobias Chilla, Stefan Gänzle, Franziska Sielker and Dominic Stead7. Experimentalist Governance in a Multi-level Environment: The EU’s macro-regional strategies for the Baltic Sea and Danube regionsStefan Gänzle and Jörg Mirtl8. Priority Area Coordinators and Horizontal Action Leaders in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region: Trans-governmental networks and order formation in EU territorial cooperationStefan GänzlePART III POLITICAL ORDER AT THE LOCAL LEVEL9. Governance at the Local Level: A research agenda on cross-boundary coordinationDag Ingvar Jacobsen10. Democratic Effects of Inter-Municipal Cooperation: Equal effects for all?Dag Ingvar Jacobsen11. Service Quality, Inter-municipal Cooperation and the Optimum Scale of Operation: The case of local fire departments in NorwaySara Blåka12. Breakdown of Inter-Organizational Cooperation: The case of regional councils in Norway Barbara Zyzak   Index

’Sometimes when I read edited volumes, I start thinking: have these contributors ever spent a day in the same room, discussing what brings them together and ultimately gives the reader the image of a genuine collective project? I am delighted to see that this collection on the conditions for the emergence of common political order in Europe is entirely coherent, compelling, and delivered in very attractive ways. Jarle Trondal has assembled a world team of researchers at the University of Agder in Kristiansand - This is the product of an integrated group of researchers that shares a vision and a progressive research agenda. The book tackles very big questions that define institutional and organizational analysis: how do common institutions emerge, develop and possibly decline or retrench? And what are the effects of multi-level, variable institutional orders in Europe? The volume is strong on explanation and empirically rich, taking us on a journey via the European public administration, the effects of institutions for accountability like the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman, and the many recombinant forms of regional and municipal cooperation in Europe, cutting across borders and national institutions. There will be huge interest for this volume across public administration, international relations, comparative regionalism, European integration, and institutional analysis.’