Local councillors in comparative perspective

Abstract

This book is about local councillors. It presents the results of the third in a series of linked cross-national research projects on comparative urban and local governance research. All three projects have been undertaken by the 'Euroloc' research group -a network of academics with a focus on international comparative research in local government studies. After having concluded the 'Udite Leadership Study' on appointed municipal chief executive officers (see Klausen and Magnier 1998; Mouritzen and Svara 2002) and a comparative study on mayors (often referred to as the polleader project) (see Bäck et al. 2006), the research network addressed the largest number of political actors in local government, elected councillors. In doing so, the last angle of the 'local power triangle' between the head administrator (CEO), the political leader (mayor) and the representative assembly (council) was covered. In this and other publications, the project is often referred to as 'Municipal Assemblies in European Local Governance' or by the acronym MAELG.With this book, we describe and analyse the recruitment patterns, career, party associations, role perceptions and behaviour, and attitudes to democracy, representation, and participation of local councillors. We also consider aspects related to gender and how it impacts on councillor views, explore differences between mayors and councillors, assess the impact of contextual and institutional factors on councillor attitudes, consider councillor views on reforms, roles in governance networks, and their perceived influence over local planning, all in cross-national perspective. In doing so, we analyse data collected in an international survey, covering about 12,000 members of the local political elite in fifteen European countries and Israel. We offer a first cut of our data to make them accessible for other researchers who are interested in local politics throughout Europe and beyond. Thus, the book serves as a foundation for further scientific work on local political elites in order to delve deeply into aspects of local politics. 1 We also aim to provide an insight comparing local politics over sixteen countries, that, as well as being an academic resource is also accessible and of interest to non-scientists outside academia. The book designed to give an analy-1 A special issue of Local Government Studies to be published in 2013, and an issue of Lex Localis published in 2012 provide such analyses.

Plus difficile d'être élu dans une petite municipalité? Perceptions de la fonction élective par certains élus municipaux québécois

“…Si plusieurs travaux européens et canadiens brossent un portrait des élu·e·s municipaux, ceux‐ci partagent un point commun: ils n'abordent pas les municipalités de moins de 10 000 h. Ainsi, l'ouvrage de Heinelt et al (2018) détaille le profil des maires et mairesses dans les municipalités de plus de 10 000 h. dans 29 pays européens. De même, l'ouvrage de Egner et al (2013) décrit le profil des conseiller·ère·s municipaux au sein de municipalités de plus de 10 000 h. dans 15 pays européens et en Israël. Ces enquêtes, basées sur de vastes sondages, montrent qu'en dépit de la disparité des contextes nationaux, les maires et mairesses sont « predominantly male, middle‐aged, university educated and disproportionally coming from a talking or brokerage profession » (Steyvers et Medir, 2018, p. 104), affirmation également valable pour les conseiller·ère·s municipaux décrits par l'enquête de Egner et al (2013).…”

“…De même, l'ouvrage de Egner et al (2013) décrit le profil des conseiller·ère·s municipaux au sein de municipalités de plus de 10 000 h. dans 15 pays européens et en Israël. Ces enquêtes, basées sur de vastes sondages, montrent qu'en dépit de la disparité des contextes nationaux, les maires et mairesses sont « predominantly male, middle‐aged, university educated and disproportionally coming from a talking or brokerage profession » (Steyvers et Medir, 2018, p. 104), affirmation également valable pour les conseiller·ère·s municipaux décrits par l'enquête de Egner et al (2013). Néanmoins, dans le cadre de ces deux vastes enquêtes, les auteurs notent que la taille de la population de la municipalité dans certains contextes est susceptible d'influencer le niveau de scolarité de l'élu·e, le recrutement politique et son appartenance à un parti politique (Reynaert, 2012).…”

Intra-party conflict at grassroots: Party-councillor ideological congruence in Croatia

“…The empirical analysis rests on the data from the survey of local councillors in Croatia, administered in Autumn 2016. Local councillor surveys have been carried out in the past, also in Croatia (Egner et al, 2013), but are seldom applied in studying intra-party politics. Compared to general party membership surveys, surveying councillors focuses on a specific group of members, who represent the party in local councils, spearhead overall party activity on the ground and exhibit some electoralist motivation.…”

The Effect of Direct Democracy on Turnout

“…In comparison with other European countries, the structure of the Czech local governance is very fragmented. Not only is the average municipality size very small, but local politics is essentially nonpartisan, with political parties playing only a minor role (Egner, Sweeting, and Klok 2013). Local politics tends to be rather uncompetitive (mainly due to the absence of partisanship) but is often mobilized by conflicts and external threats.…”