Linze Schaap

From Princeps to President? Comparing Local Political Leadership Transformation

Abstract Using conceptual dimensions identified by the literature on political leadership, this article compares its transformations at the local level in Europe. Often associated with the alleged shift to governance, the strengthening of the executive comes forward as the underlying tendency in contemporary local leadership. Empowered individualised leadership emerges, in terms of coming to and taking office, challenging traditional notions of tasks, style and conditions of local leadership. Such a tendency does not imply the apparent Americanisation of political leadership however, as the articles in this collection show, rather a path dependent European route has emerged.

Mayors in Seven European Countries: Part I. Selection Procedures and Statutory Position

Abstract Western European countries differ according to the ways in which they organise local government, not least in the manner in which mayors are selected and in the mayors’ statutory positions and responsibilities. The question is to what extent is mayoral performance affected by selection procedures and the statutory position of the mayoral office? In two exploratory articles, the results of a number of comparative empirical studies will be presented. In this first part the focus will be on the theoretical and methodological framework of the study, and on the variations in selection procedures and statutory positions. In the second part (to be published in the next issue of this journal) we will relate these findings to evidence on mayoral performance.

Closure and Governance

Governance and closure: an uncomfortably linked pair. For do governance networks not guarantee openness? If so, then when would networks tend to be closed? And if closure occurs, can it help to explain governance network failure, that is, the ‘inability to provide efficient governance through negotiated interaction between a plurality of actors’ (see Chapter 5)? Or does the cause of governance network failure lie within the definition itself? For a significant presupposition is present within this definition; that is, governmental actors intend to steer, but how can one steer through negotiations?

Mayors in seven European countries, Part II : Performance and analysis

Abstract Western European countries differ according to the ways in which they organise the selection and the statutory positions of mayors, as was described in Part I of this study. The question to be answered now is: ‘To what extent is mayoral performance affected by selection procedures and the statutory position of the mayoral office?’. It will become clear that there are huge differences in mayoral performance. Several factors influencing that performance will be identified. The most important conclusion is that mayoral selection procedures and statutory positions do affect mayoral performance, although not as much as expected. Other factors are at stake.

Innovations in Sub-National Government in Europe

Improvement in government is often rooted in decentralised layers of government. In this article the authors discuss the recent history of innovations in sub-national government in Europe. They focus on two general trends and developments. Cases of interesting practices and developments illustrate the general trends. For each general trend a distinction is made between two kinds of innovations: structural reforms and new ways of working within existing institutional settings. The first trend concerns changing relations between government, civil society and citizens, in response to the increased contestation of the nature of traditional representative democracy. Examples of structural reforms are: increased citizen participation, the expanded use of referenda and the introduction of the directly elected mayor. New ways of working are: forms of coproduction between the public sector and the third sector. The second trend described in this article is change within government itself, mainly the rise of ‘governance’ and changing administrative scales. Structural reforms take several forms: scale enlargement to enhance system capacity, scale reduction to enhance system capacity, scale enlargement to enhance citizen effectiveness, and scale reduction to enhance citizen effectiveness. Next to them, new ways of working can be observed within governments: cross-boarder co-operations, inter-municipal co-operations, and new forms of performance assessment and fiscal management. The authors conclude the article with a few challenges to both academics and governments.

Puzzles of Local Democracy

European local democracies are objects of sharp public criticism. Politicians, commentators and media describe the alienation of citizens, the low voter turnout, the declining interest in politics and public affairs, the weakness of the representative bodies, and the dominance of the executive and/or the bureaucracy. At the same time, however, we observe signs of a growing interest in societal issues and of an increase of political participation outside the area of institutional politics (for example: Tarrow 2000). Also notions of social capital, social cohesion, governance and participatory and direct forms of democracy suggest a growing awareness of this process of change in political styles and orientations. In the daily life of local democracies in many European countries all kinds of expressions of this awareness can be observed. Quite a number of local authorities respond to this changing orientation among citizens by experimenting with new or additional forms of democracy.

More than a Friendly Visit: A New Strategy for Improving Local Governing Capacity

Abstract This article argues that in order to take into account changes in the governance era, performance assessment at the local level may well have to be refocused. Researchers will have to reconsider their strategies. They should consider the governance character of public administration and pay attention to co-operative settings and democratic aspects. In addition, researchers should think not just about gathering facts about the performance of local government, they should also try to contribute to a learning process. This paper presents a new strategy for assessing the capacity that local governments have to get things done. This strategy acknowledges the governance context of local authorities and casts a keen eye on the way local governments fulfil their functions and aim to involve various stakeholders. The evaluation of this assessment strategy shows its relevance, although minor improvements could be made.

The Dutch Anomaly: Appointed Mayors Can Appointed Mayors Cope with Role Changes and Societal Demands?

In many European countries mayors are local political leaders. Dutch mayors, however, are neither local nor political, as national government appoints them. Their office is subject to serious changes. While it still carries a lot of ‘natural’ authority, its content has changed rather drastically. In this article we first of all give an overview of the mayoral office in Western Europe and sketch the Dutch mayorship. The next step is to discuss recent developments: councils gaining influence on the actual mayoral selection, mayors getting more legal capacities and responsibilities, and society demanding stronger (mayoral) leadership. We will explore the ways present mayors cope with the emerging tensions between these developments, and between the responses to them. The focus is on tensions between the various developments and the risks the mayorship runs.

Renewal in European Local Democracies

This book explores the dynamics of democratic reform processes in European local government. On the basis of analyses of theoretical challenges to present developments, the book pays attention to processes of democratic innovation inspired by classical representative democracy and by new forms of democracy influenced by notions of governance, participation, e-governance, empowering civil society and the like. Also attention is given to the role of regionalization and of leader-ship in efforts to revitalize local democracy. Cases from all over Europe are being studied.

The Dynamics of Democratic Learning

In the first chapter, we observed that the reforms in European local democracies are remarkable for their similarities, despite significant differences in historic development, structure and cultural in European countries. This isomorphism is illustrated in several recent studies, both in country-by-country comparative studies (among others Loughlin (ed.) 1999; Caulfield and Larsen (eds.) 2002; Denters and Rose (eds.) 2005) and in thematic ones (Back, Heinelt and Magnier (eds.) 2006; Berg and Rao (eds.) 2005); Back, Gjelstrup, Helgesen, Johansson and Klausen (eds.) 2005).