S<sc>chakel</sc> A. H. and J<sc>effery</sc> C. Are regional elections really ‘second-order’ elections, <italic>Regional Studies</italic>. This article critically assesses the applicability of the second-order election model to regional elections. It offers first a critique of the second-order election model, arguing that the...

This article validates the Regional Authority Index with seven widely used decentralization indices in the literature. A principal axis analysis reveals a common structure. The major source of disagreement between the Regional Authority Index and the other indices stems from the fact that the...