This thesis makes a comparative study of local government autonomy in Britain and Sweden within the local economic development policy area. It argues for local government autonomy to be viewed in terms of both a vertical dimension concerning local government's autonomy vis-à-vis national government (national context) and a horizontal dimension relating to its autonomy vis-à-vis local social and economic forces (local context). A policy area approach is advocated as the strength of, and the balance between, factors influencing local government autonomy, both vertically and horizontally, may be modified by the particular characteristics of the policy area. For example, the local economic development policy area is characterized as a grey zone respecting the intergovernmental relationship and a "mixed-economy" concerning the public-private sector relationship. The concept of autonomy is distinguished into policy-making independence (measured as local authority cooperation with other actors in economic development policies) and capacity for action (measured in terms of four local authority roles in the local economy). These are tested empirically regarding the influence of the local context and the relationship between them examined. The dominant trend in both countries is that the more local authorities intervene in the local economy (extend their capacity for action), the greater their cooperation with other actors (the more restricted their policy-making independence). / digitalisering@umu

La thèse a pour objet les relations entre gouvernements locaux (et régionaux) et intérêts économiques et leur contribution respective à la construction politique des territoires. La thèse vise à mettre au jour les mécanismes soutenant la cristallisation et la stabilisation des systèmes d’acteurs à différents niveaux territoriaux. Cette problématique est explorée à partir d’une étude comparative des stratégies territoriales de développement économique dans deux régions non-capitales, Lyon et Milan, dès la crise industrielle des années 1970 jusqu’aux processus de métropolisation économique. Ce travail démontre que la construction politique des territoires s’explique à la fois par la capacité d’action des gouvernements locaux et par la capacité de mobilisation des intérêts économiques. Il permet de déceler des différences durables entre les deux cas : ainsi dans le cas lyonnais et rhônalpin, les institutions publiques ont un rôle d’encadrement des processus de développement plus fort, alors que ce sont plutôt les intérêts économiques qui orientent les choix publics dans les cas milanais et lombard. Ces différences ont des répercussions sur les échelles de gouvernement : dans le cas français, la présence d’une institution de gouvernement puissante, en l’occurrence le gouvernement métropolitain, a contribué à fixer stablement les systèmes d’acteurs à cette échelle. En revanche, en Italie il n’est pas possible d’identifier une échelle dominante sur le temps long, en raison de la présence d’intérêts économiques multi-positionnés et de la prééminence de logiques politico-partisanes qui joue contre le renforcement des institutions publiques. / This thesis studies the relationships between local (and regional) governments and economic interests and their contribution to the political construction of territories. The thesis aims to uncover the mechanisms supporting the crystallization and stabilization of systems of actors at different territorial levels. This issue is analysed through a comparative analysis of territorial economic strategies of two non-capital regions in France and Italy, Lyon and Milan, since the industrial crisis of the 1970s to the recent process of economic metropolitanization. This work demonstrates that the political construction of territories depends both on the capacity of action of local governments and the mobilisation of economic interests. As for the types of relationships between local governments and economic interests, stable variations between the two cases stand out from the analysis: in the French case public institutions have a more directive role in the government of local economic development policies, while it is rather the economic interests that influence public action in the Italian case. These differences have implications on the scales of government: in the French case the presence of a powerful government institution, namely the metropolitan government, contributed to stably secure the systems of actors on this scale. By contrast, in Italy it is not possible to identify a dominant and stable scale along time due to the presence of powerful and multi positioned economic interests and to the domination of partisan logics over institution-building processes.

Esta dissertação procura analisar o artigo 219 da Constituição Brasileira sob a ótica das políticas econômicas do desenvolvimento. Em seu texto, o referido artigo garante como parte integrante do patrimônio nacional o mercado interno, prescrevendo seu incentivo a fim de proporcionar o desenvolvimento econômico, social e cultural, bem como a autonomia tecnológica e o bem-estar de toda a população. Partindo dos pressupostos teóricos da Constituição Federal de 1988 como sendo uma constituição dirigente, esta dissertação foca-se sobre o referido dispositivo encarando-o como artigo pertencente à chamada constituição econômica formal. Assim, esta pesquisa se propõe a estudar os três principais discursos nacionais sobre o desenvolvimento econômico, ao mesmo tempo em que busca na literatura econômico-constitucional as melhores análises sobre o referido artigo. / This study intends to analyze the article 219 of the Brazilian Constitution, under the view of the policies for economic development. In its text, the referred article grants the Brazilian internal market as part of the national patrimony. Further, the article prescribes its economic stimulus, intending to provide cultural, social and economic development, as well as social welfare and technological independence. Assuming that the Brazilian Constitution is a typical José Canotilhos directive constitution model, this study focuses on the referred article, facing it as a part of the Brazilian economic constitution. Thereby, proposes to study the three main national thesis about economic development, as the same time as it searches on the Brazilian constitutional and economic literature the best analysis on the cited article.

Esta dissertação procura analisar o artigo 219 da Constituição Brasileira sob a ótica das políticas econômicas do desenvolvimento. Em seu texto, o referido artigo garante como parte integrante do patrimônio nacional o mercado interno, prescrevendo seu incentivo a fim de proporcionar o desenvolvimento econômico, social e cultural, bem como a autonomia tecnológica e o bem-estar de toda a população. Partindo dos pressupostos teóricos da Constituição Federal de 1988 como sendo uma constituição dirigente, esta dissertação foca-se sobre o referido dispositivo encarando-o como artigo pertencente à chamada constituição econômica formal. Assim, esta pesquisa se propõe a estudar os três principais discursos nacionais sobre o desenvolvimento econômico, ao mesmo tempo em que busca na literatura econômico-constitucional as melhores análises sobre o referido artigo. / This study intends to analyze the article 219 of the Brazilian Constitution, under the view of the policies for economic development. In its text, the referred article grants the Brazilian internal market as part of the national patrimony. Further, the article prescribes its economic stimulus, intending to provide cultural, social and economic development, as well as social welfare and technological independence. Assuming that the Brazilian Constitution is a typical José Canotilhos directive constitution model, this study focuses on the referred article, facing it as a part of the Brazilian economic constitution. Thereby, proposes to study the three main national thesis about economic development, as the same time as it searches on the Brazilian constitutional and economic literature the best analysis on the cited article.