ABSTRACT

Globalisation is a phenomenon that is often said to have contributed to two very distinct types of simultaneous processes: one is globalisation in itself and the other is the backlash, which is said to be the regionalisation or the localisation process. It can be said to be the reaction to a world where certain values are becoming extinct. Hence, all over the globe, alongside the general effects of globalisation one can also find local initiatives that strive to strengthen or maintain a local culture or local governance (Baylis and Smith, 2008; Gustavsson and Tallberg, 2009). Apart from the local processes that have been provoked, over the years there has also been a change in the pattern in which communities are governed, a change that involves among many other things the transition from government to governance (Bache and Flinders, 2004). The change in decision making and power distribution has led to a political arena where new political behaviour has become possible (von Bergmann-Winberg, 2010).