PEOPLEKarl Kössler

de en it

Karl Kössler

Research Group Leader
Institute for Comparative Federalism

T +39 0471 055 212

karl.koessler@eurac.edu

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6038-7855

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About

Karl Kössler is Senior Researcher and Group Leader at the Institute for Comparative Federalism of Eurac Research Bolzano/Bozen (Italy). He received a Ph.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Innsbruck (Austria) in 2011. Due to his background in both comparative public law and political science, Karl Kössler's research adopts a multidisciplinary perspective. His teaching includes a wide range of courses at universities, master programs and summer schools in Europe, Africa and Asia. Moreover, Karl Kössler is the author of more than 70 academic publications with prestigious publishers such as Routledge, Palgrave Macmillan, Edward Elgar, Hart Publishing and Oxford University Press. This includes 13 books, among them Comparative Federalism: Constitutional Arrangements and Case Law (co-authored with Francesco Palermo). The latter book has received acclaim from both political scientists and lawyers as “a work of reference for generations of scholars” (Balveer Arora) and as setting “a new benchmark for the study of comparative federalism” (Nico Steytler). Karl Kössler’s consultancy activities for policymakers have covered a wide range of constitutional and political reform projects with assignments ranging from several European countries to Mozambique and Papua New Guinea. Since 2018, he has been an Alternate Member of the Council of Europe’s Group of Independent Experts on the European Charter of Local Self-Government. His work has obtained extensive third-party funding from private foundations and the European Union. From 2019 to 2024, for instance, Karl Kössler was the Scientific Coordinator of the five-year EU Horizon 2020 project “Local Government and the Changing Urban-Rural Interplay (LoGov)”, which brought together 18 partner institutions from around the world (http://www.logov-rise.eu/).

Full CV

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vjx2R128T9CjtJ7gIzZsL6jn7y9DPMtO/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=114150880214310028387&rtpof=true&sd=true

Main research interests

- Comparative politics and comparative constitutional law

- Federalism, local government and intergovernmental relations

- Institutional design in divided societies: territorial and non-territorial autonomy, power-sharing arrangements

- Policies in multilevel systems: external relations, social welfare, migrant integration

- Individuals in multilevel systems: fundamental rights, participatory democracy

Scientific Publications

Edited book2026

Citizen Participation in Local Governance: An Urban-Rural Perspective

Kössler K, Schläppi E

Karl Kössler

ISBN: 978-3-031-99823-2

This is an Open access book. It provides a comparative and multidisciplinary analysis of public participation in local governance. The volume stands out with three essential features. First, the comparative research reflected in the volume has a global geographical scope because it is the outcome of a Horizon 2020 project involving 18 partners from six continents. Therefore, it includes highly topical and so far under-researched case studies beyond just the European continent. Secondly, we look at the above-mentioned topics from a timely urban-rural perspective, as the ultimate aim is to explore the impact of the phenomenon of urbanisation on local governments and the response of urban and rural municipalities. Thirdly, the book focuses within broader research concerning public participation in local governance on several specific topics that have been revealed by our project as particularly relevant. These include people’s participation in local development and planning, their involvement regarding large-scale projects, participatory budgeting, as well as the promises and pitfalls of digital participation.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-99824-9

Inbook2026

Citizen Participation in Local Governance: Four Issues in Focus

Kössler K

Karl Kössler

This edited book assembles chapters that focus on how citizens are involved in the decision-making of local governments. Within this broad thematic area, our research within a Horizon 2020 project on “Local Government and the Changing Urban-Rural Interplay—LoGov”, which brought together the expertise of 18 partner institutions from six continents, has revealed several issues as particularly salient and under-researched from a global comparative perspective, namely. These issues are participation in local development and planning, in large-scale projects, participatory budgeting and the promises and pitfalls of digital participation. This chapter first discusses to what extent local citizen participation can be a remedy for the current crisis of representative democracy, then provides short introductions to the four above-mentioned issues and concludes with an overview of the guiding questions for the case studies included in this volume.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-99824-9_1

Inbook2026

Comparative Conclusions

Kössler K, Belser EM

Karl Kössler

As urbanization has become an important phenomenon in many countries around the world, both the structure of local government and the relations of local authorities with other government levels need a rethink. Urbanization sparked the emergence of huge metropolitan cities, on the one hand, and the depopulation of rural areas, on the other, which requires strategies for structural reforms and for the effective representation of both urban and rural local interests in intergovernmental relations. This chapter brings together insights from the case studies included in this book regarding four particularly salient issues: (1) decentralization within metropolitan areas, (2) mergers and inter-municipal cooperation in rural areas, (3) the role of local authorities in intergovernmental conferences and (4) the representation of urban and rural interests through local government associations.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-99820-1_17

Inbook2026

Comparative Conclusions

Kössler K, Schläppi E, Bishop K

Karl Kössler

Given the current crisis of representative democracy and the risk of political disenchantment turning into (sometimes violent) political protests, we raised the question of “alternatives to the brick and the ballot” in the introduction to this book. This volume has covered a broad range of such alternatives regarding four crucial areas for local governments in both urban and rural contexts: (1) people’s involvement in local development and planning, (2) them having a say on large-scale projects, (3) participatory budgeting and (4) digital participation. This chapter brings together insights from the case studies included in the book based on seven guiding questions that the contributors were asked to bear in mind: (1) the aims of the analyzed participatory processes, (2), the issues that they address, (3) the people they include/exclude, (4) their way of organizing competing local (and other) interests, (5) the format of the participatory processes, (6) their specificities in urban and rural contexts, as well as (7) their actual impact on local decision-making.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-99824-9_18

Edited book2026

Local Government Structure and Intergovernmental Relations: An Urban-Rural Perspective

Kössler K, Belser EM

Karl Kössler

ISBN: 978-3-031-99820-1

The is an Open access book. It provides a comparative and multidisciplinary analysis of how structural issues of local governments and their relations with other government levels are dealt with globally. The volume stands out with three essential features. First, the comparative research reflected in the volume has a global geographical scope because it is the outcome of a Horizon 2020 project involving 18 partners from six continents. Therefore, it includes highly topical and so far under-researched case studies beyond just the European continent.

Secondly, we look at the above-mentioned topics from a timely urban-rural perspective, as the ultimate aim is to explore the impact of the phenomenon of urbanisation on local governments and the response of urban and rural municipalities. Thirdly, the book focuses within broader research on the structure of local government and intergovernmental relations on several specific topics that have been revealed by our project as particularly relevant. These are decentralization within metropolitan areas, ways of tackling structural challenges in rural areas through mergers and inter-municipal cooperation, the representation of urban and rural interests by local government associations, as well as the role that local authorities play in intergovernmental conferences.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-99820-1

Inbook2026

Local Government Structure and Intergovernmental Relations: Four Issues in Focus

Kössler K

Karl Kössler

This edited book assembles chapters that deal with issues regarding the structure of local government and the role municipalities play in intergovernmental relations. Within these broad thematic areas, research within a Horizon 2020 project on “Local Government and the Changing Urban-Rural Interplay—LoGov,” which brought together the expertise of 18 partner institutions from six continents, has revealed several issues as particularly salient and under-researched from a global comparative perspective, namely decentralization within metropolitan areas, mergers and inter-municipal cooperation as tools to tackle structural challenges in rural areas, the role of local authorities in vertical intergovernmental conferences, and the representation of urban and rural interests through local government associations. This chapter provides short introductions to these four issues and presents the guiding questions for the case studies included in this volume.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-99820-1_1

Inbook2025

Federalism

Kössler K

Karl Kössler

This chapter examines the impact of constitutional interpretation on the relationships between national and subnational governments within a framework that emphasizes the role of judges. It begins by defining federalism and detailing how (judicial) constitutional interpretation has gained prominence in federal systems. The analysis identifies which court cases qualify as ‘federalism jurisprudence’, arguing against a narrow focus solely on power allocation and advocating for the inclusion of cases related to self-rule and shared rule as well as fundamental rights. This broader understanding facilitates an exploration of the (de)centralizing effects of constitutional interpretation.The discussion addresses whether courts serve as centralizers or decentralizers, identifying four key methodological challenges in answering this question. Finally, the chapter analyzes why constitutional interpretation tends toward either centralization or decentralization, concluding with insights into its implications for federal governance.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.4337/9781800371743.00020

Inbook2025

Federalism and Non-territorial Autonomy: Revisiting Two Interrelated Concepts

Kössler K

Karl Kössler

Federalism and non-territorial autonomy (NTA) have in common that both kinds of arrangements have been proposed, especially in the post-Cold War era, as possible solutions for the successful management of ethno-cultural conflict, regarding both their prevention and solution. They are very different, however, in terms of their history in theory and practice, as well as their core idea. Federalism refers – not necessarily but following its classical understanding – to a territorial arrangement, while NTA denotes, as the name suggests, a non-territorial one. This chapter aims to explore how federalism is related to NTA and compares to it. To this end, section 2 demonstrates how both have experienced a revival in the 1990s. Section 3 then explores points of conceptual convergence or divergence based on how both arrangements are related to four key issues: How do they come into being? How are they related to the idea of self-rule? How are they linked to the idea of shared rule? What role does democracy play as a presumably important context factor for both kinds of arrangements? Section 4 concludes.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1163/9789004707764_003

Edited book2025

Municipal Tasks and Financing: an Urban-Rural Perspective

Velasco Caballero F, Burgi M, Kössler K

Karl Kössler

ISBN: 978-3-031-99811-9

This an Open access book. It provides a comparative and multidisciplinary analysis of how local governments perform their tasks and how these are financed. The volume stands out with three essential features. First, the comparative research reflected in the volume has a global geographical scope because it is the outcome of a Horizon 2020 project involving 18 partners from six continents. Therefore, it includes highly topical and so far under-researched case studies beyond just the European continent. Secondly, we look at the above-mentioned topics from a timely urban-rural perspective, as the ultimate aim is to explore the impact of the phenomenon of urbanisation on local governments and the response of urban and rural municipalities. Thirdly, the book focuses within broader research on municipal tasks and finances on several specific topics that have been revealed by our project as particularly relevant. These are public transport policies of urban and rural local governments, different ways of public service provision like PPP and public enterprises, financial equalization between urban and rural municipalities, as well as special fees as alternative sources of local revenue.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-99812-6

Inbook2024

Aggregative and Devolutionary Federalism Revisited: The Impact of Founding Processes on Federal Systems

Kössler K

Karl Kössler

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1163/9789004528581_005

Inbook2024

Austria

Kössler K

Karl Kössler

This chapter explores the role of local government in Austria’s federal system. It argues that municipalities play a rather junior role compared to federal and Länder government levels, and that the practice of ‘three-level federalism’ is essentially confined to financial relations, though even here local governments do not really enjoy equal standing. Unsurprisingly, the associations representing local government continue to call for a stronger voice in political and constitutional affairs. In addition, the chapter shows that while various crises (especially those besetting the smaller municipalities) exacerbate structural problems, they can also work as catalysts for much-needed reform. The global financial crisis of 2007–2008 played precisely such a role; whether the Covid-19 pandemic will do so too remains to be seen.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-41283-7_4

Inbook2024

Integration of Third-Country Nationals in Subnational Entities: Is Regional Citizenship a Viable Instrument?

Medda-Windischer R, Kössler K

Karl Kössler, Roberta Medda-Windischer

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.3726/b18969

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