This study makes two contributions to extant literature. Firstly, it demonstrates how hierarchical dynamics can develop and even intensify within policy networks over time, which deviates from the commonly accepted understanding of networked decision-making. Secondly, adding to calls for longitudinal studies in the field of public administration, the study provides a longitudinal case study of decision-making behavior in policy networks. By analyzing documents and interviews, the study shows that networked decision-making became increasingly hierarchical over time in the context of urban transport policy networks. Network behavior became more structured, collectivist, and directive. In the initial phase, organizational capacity and past collaboration were factors contributing to increased hierarchical behavior, while vertical specialization hampered hierarchization. In the subsequent phase, decreased vertical specialization promoted hierarchical behavior, while limitations in capacity and resistance to changes stemming from prior collaborations, impeded further development of hierarchy.

This paper will focus on the regional level of governance in two Nordic autonomous regions: Greenland and the Åland Islands. Greenland has an extensive self-government underneath the Danish jurisdiction and the Åland Islands belonging to Finland has a more restricted form of self-government. The COVID-19 pandemic was a wicked, unpredictable, and polycentric problem, where decisions were to be made quickly. Some decisions were made on the cost of self-government, where the state was going in to make the decisions for the whole country. How did this affect the management of the self-government regions in relation to the handling of the pandemic? The COVID-19 pandemic had limited consequences in both cases but what were the factors behind the success in relation to the crisis management. Which regulations and rules came into play in these regions? How could the regions manage the crisis? The study will take on a comparative approach, where similarities and differences between the cases will be outlined. The theoretical models that will underpin the study will be directed to towards the models of high reliability organization (HRO) and high adaptability organization (HAN). Which one of the models was used in relation to the crisis management? What are the lessons learned in relation to the pandemic?

Political systems - and especially the multi-level system of the European Union (EU) - are confronted with multiple challenges. This affects all vertical levels, from the municipal to the supranational, as well as all their dimensions: economic (markets), social (individuals and "nations"), political (institutions) and territorial. In particular, deficits in social integration and legitimacy are considered crucial for a comprehensive systemic and integration crisis. Inspired by early theories of European integration, the paper proposed assumes an interdependence of the different dimensions of integration and wants to examine to what extent integration and legitimisation impulses of the administrative dimension of integration influence the societal dimension.

Against the backdrop of an institutional theory perspective, the challenge is to establish governance structures that are suitable for enabling collective capacity to act on the one hand, and at the same time to ensure broad democratic participation, a high level of transparency and possibilities for control on the other. The proposed paper thus focuses on the well-known tension between effectiveness and transparency and analyses this by looking at public administrations and against the background of their potential for integration.

The two challenges are not only at national or European level, but especially at regional and local level. The proposed paper takes a look at administrative cooperation in European border regions as "laboratories of European integration" and develops a research agenda using the case of border regions. On the theoretical basis of neo-institutionalism, the paper develops ways of analysing the tension between effectiveness and transparency. Last but not least, it ties back to the question of under which conditions public administrations in border areas can develop into motors for the overall European project.

In recent decades, municipal mergers have been frequently used to enhance the functioning of local governments. It is not only a trend in various European countries, ranging from Greece to Sweden and from Belgium to Bulgaria (Ebinger et al., 2019), but also in countries far beyond, such as Japan (e.g. Yamada & Arai, 2021), Australia (e.g. Dollery, 2018), and Canada (e.g. Cobban, 2019). A municipal merger is defined as 'a reduction in the number of multifunctional local government units through consolidation' (Bish, 2001, p.14). Depending on government regulations, this process can occur voluntarily (bottom-up) or mandatorily (top-down) (Tavares, 2018).

Today, municipal mergers are primarily used as a tool to enhance the administrative capacity of local governments (Lackowska et al., 2021; Tavares, 2018). Proponents see it as a means to increase the available resources and capacity of a local government (Steiner et al., 2016). For example, it could lead to an increase in financial capability (e.g. Copus et al., 2021), and a strengthening and professionalization of administrative staff (e.g. Steiner et al., 2016). Opponents emphasize the risks of the merger process. A merger is a significant transformation of political and administrative structures, systems, and procedures (Tavares, 2018), which could also result in increased expenses and added pressure on personnel (Blesse & Baskaran, 2016). These scholars find alternatives to enhance administrative capacity, such as intermunicipal collaborations or shared service centers, more appealing (Dollery & Crase, 2006).

However, most of these arguments about mergers are often based on assumptions. The arguments rarely rely on extensive empirical research and reliable data analysis (Tavares, 2018). The aim of this international literature study is, therefore, to provide an overview of existing empirical material in support of municipal mergers as a government-wide change process. To achieve this, we conduct a systematic review of the literature on municipal amalgamation from 2000-2022. The results of the analysis indicate three types of effects: economic effects, administrative effects, and policy effects. The studies on the economic effects show some evidence of efficiency gains, primarily in the administrative core of municipalities, but also of rising depths and underestimated transition costs. The studies on the administrative effects provide some evidence for the improved professionalization of the administration, but its causality with the mergers remains uncertain. The results on the policy effects vary, with studies pointing to the increased complexity of formulating new policy after a merger, and others pointing to the increase in policy capacity due to the merger. These findings provide a nuanced depiction of the effects of municipal amalgamations, and offer practical recommendations for policy makers who are considering the pros and cons of mergers.