This text provides a comprehensive introduction to local government and urban politics in contemporary Western Europe. It is the first book to map and explain the significant processes of change characterizing local government systems and to place these in a genuinely comparative context.Students are introduced to the traditional structures and institutions of local government and shown how these have been transforming in response to increased economic and political competition, new ideas, institutional reform and the Europeanization of public policy.At the books core is the perceived transition from local government to localgovernance. This key development is traced thematically across a wide range of West European states including: Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.Local Governance in Western Europewill be essential reading for all students and academics of government, public policy, public administration, public management, and urban and regional studies.