Andreas Ladner is Professor of Political Institutions and Public Administration at the Swiss Graduate Institute of Public Administration, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.  Harald Baldersheim is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway.  Nikos Hlepas is Associate Professor for Local Self-Government and Regional Administration at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.  Nicolas Keuffer is Research Assistant at the Swiss Graduate Institute of Public Administration, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.  Carmen Navarro is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, University Autónoma of Madrid, Spain.  Kristof Steyvers is Professor of Political science, Ghent University, Belgium.  Paweł Swianiewicz is Professor in the Department of Development and Local Policy,  University of Warsaw, Poland.