From ‘Great’ Leaders to Building Networks: The Emergence of a New Urban Leadership in Southern Europe?

Abstract

This article reviews the changes that have taken place in local government leadership in France and Spain. It has been argued that political leadership in local government in Southern Europe is characterized by major political leaders who are able to obtain resources from central government through their political connections. However, both French and Spanish local governments have evolved while developing new forms of leadership that are more connected to territory, its people and local issues than to the respective administrative capitals. The article argues that the development of new policies at the local level, the opening of new avenues of citizen participation and the introduction of new methods of public management have changed the relationship between elected representatives and the people. Institutional innovations at the supra-municipal level have also created a space between regions and municipalities for local leaders to develop their capacity as project leaders and network creators. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2004.

Exogenous and endogenous determinants of Spanish mayors’ notions of democracy: a multilevel regression analysis

“…This view of the role of institutions has favored studies that try to identify instances of different "adjustments" of notions of democracy to various institutional frameworks. For instance, Haus and Sweeting (2006a, b) used the rich existing theoretical framework on typologies of local government (Borraz and John, 2004;Genieys et al, 2004;Goldsmith and Larsen, 2004;Leach and Wilson, 2004;Wollmann, 2004;Heinelt and Hlepas, 2006) to model different types of local democracy -such as "local representative" northern European local democracy and "strong mayor" models in southern Europe-to predict distinct types of local leadership. On the other hand, Denters and Klok (2013) explored whether local institutions that promote citizen participation are related to more responsive attitudes among local leaders.…”

“…The nature of these new datasets has enabled both the testing of old theories (Sharpe, 1970;Page and Goldsmith, 1987;Page, 1991) and the production of new theoretical frameworks (Borraz and John, 2004;Genieys et al, 2004;Haus and Sweeting, 2006a, b) on the existence and consequences of different types of local government. Two main innovations shape this new theoretical and empirical framework.…”

Decide and Defend: Regaining Authority for Controversial Decisions Through Rendering Account

“…On this continuum, the directive leadership style, being strong, decisive, non-participative, and proactive, is by definition more authoritative than a facilitative leadership style, which is characterised by partnership and cooperation (see Genieys et al, 2004;Greasley & Stoker, 2008). Directive leadership in the behavioural sense entails that political-executive leaders have the ability to act against the public opinion in decision- The inherent tension between leadership and democracy, however, creates a serious challenge for such directive leadership.…”

“…Therefore, this study draws on the distinction between 'directive leadership' and 'participative leadership' that is widely applied in private sector management literature (Bass & Bass, 2008, pp. 458-496), and has also found its way into public administration (e.g., Baumgartel, 1957), and the study of local government (e.g., John & Cole, 1999).On this continuum, the directive leadership style, being strong, decisive, non-participative, and proactive, is by definition more authoritative than a facilitative leadership style, which is characterised by partnership and cooperation (see Genieys et al, 2004;Greasley & Stoker, 2008). Directive leadership in the behavioural sense entails that political-executive leaders have the ability to act against the public opinion in decision- The inherent tension between leadership and democracy, however, creates a serious challenge for such directive leadership.…”

From Princeps to President? Comparing Local Political Leadership Transformation

“…Germany, England and, when directly elected, Poland and Hungary) variants, including the statutory capacity of the local within multi-level arrangement as well. Mayors in the south still tend to concentrate on representing community interests and build on a territorial base of power (Genieys et al, 2004) while their counterparts in the rest of Europe give more prominence to the service dimension. This does not imply that governance leaves some parts of Europe entirely unaffected or a developmental agenda is completely unknown elsewhere.…”