The contributors of this book explore the role and influence of political leadership through a comparative analysis of regional-level dynamics in Europe. Through case studies that centre around three dimensions, economy, institutions and identity, this book argues against an excessive reliance on macro-determinism, either from above or from below . The cases provide evidence regarding the role of political agency for territorial governance between the double pressure of globalization and Europeanization on the one side and local culture on the other. Taken together they show that agency can apply both at the level of institutions, which therefore do not automatically converge under the pressure of globalization and Europeanization and at the level of identity, which therefore does not necessarily mirror the existing political culture. Regional government does work , both in the sense that territorial entities engage in real political choices and that these choices often result in effective outcomes.