Quality of Government and Corruption from a European Perspective. A Comparative Study of Good Government in EU Regions

In this book the authors tackle the concept of ‘quality of government’ (QoG) both conceptually and empirically and apply their focus to EU countries and regions. In a pioneering empirical effort, they map out regional QoG for the first time for 172 NUTS 1 and 2 regions throughout 18 countries in the EU, and provide a detailed methodology. They follow up the quantitative assessment with three case studies demonstrating the wide variation of QoG found within the countries of Italy, Belgium and Romania. The book concludes with important lessons and ideas for future research.

Quality of Government and Corruption from a European Perspective will offer an insight to an important issue of development within the EU that speaks to students and academics in the field of comparative politics, EU politics, development, governance and corruption.

Contents:

Introduction

PART I: DEFINING QoG AND WHY IT MATTERS TO EUROPE
1. A Focus on the European Union and the Sub-National Dimension of QoG
Lewis Dijkstra

2. Conceptualizing QoG
Bo Rothstein

PART II: QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF QoG IN THE EU
3. Evaluating EU Countries by QoG: National Level
Nicholas Charron

4. QoG at the Sub-National Level and the EQI
Nicholas Charron

PART III: CASE STUDIES AND LESSONS FROM THE REGIONAL QUALITATIVE EXPERT INTERVIEWS
5. Variation in Sub-National QoG in Italy and a Closer Look at QoG in Bolzano and Campania
Nicholas Charron

6. Variation in Sub-National QoG in Belgium: Flanders and Wallonia
Jonas Håkansson

7. Variation in Sub-National QoG in Romania
Oana Borcan

8. Conclusions: How to Improve QoG in Europe
Victor Lapuente

Index