Part 1 Society and administration - the European context: territory and administration, Robert Bennett; European economy, society, politics and administration - symmetry and disjuncture, Robert Bennett. Part 2 Territory and function - an overview: stimuli to administrative reform, Robert Bennett; assignment of competency and resources, Robert Bennett; management by territory and the study of administrative geography, Adriaan Bours. Part 3 Present and futures - case studies of socialist democracies: an overview of east European developments, Eva Perger; administrative reforms in eastern Europe - an overview, Marie-Claude Maurel; the USSR - territorial and administrative structure, Igor Ushkalov and Boris Khorev; Poland - searching for increasing economic effectiveness, Maria Ciechocinska; Hungary - developments in local administration, Zoltan Hajdu; Czechoslovakia - the development of public administration, Olga Vidlakova and Pavel Zarecky; Bulgaria - administrative division and territorial management, P.Popv and Z. Demerdjiev; the German Democratic Republic, Joachim Brauniger. Part 4 Present and futures - case studies in liberal democracies: Spain - regional and local government, J.Sole-Vilanova; the Netherlands, Hans Blaas and Petr Dostal; France - shifts in local authority finance, Guy Gilbert and Alain Guengant; West Germany - from decentralization in theory to centralization in practice, Gerhard Bahrenberg; Finland - present and futures in local government, Eero Nurminen; Belgium, Robert Sevrin. Part 5 Future agendas: territory and administration - towards a future research agenda, Robert Bennett.