Local councillors and administrative reforms

Abstract

Why do some people become and stay politicians while others do not? To gain an insight into this question one has to scrutinise the processes by which certain individuals enter, remain and move in office. In the literature on political science, these processes are usually framed by the concepts of political recruitment and career development. The answer to the initial question is related to notions such as the degree of openness of selection into the core of the political system and to whether or not who governs matters for attitudes and behaviour in office. These notions bear on more normative considerations such as: should political office provide a microcosm of society, or does professional responsiveness outweigh representation as the ultimate touchstone of contemporary local democracy? Hence, the importance of these concepts and their associated processes goes beyond mere descriptions of the pathway to office. This chapter focuses on the recruitment and career development of local councillors in the 16 European countries studied in the context of the project Municipal Assemblies in European Local Governance. It starts with an overview of the literature conceiving recruitment and career development as a process with different phases. Subsequently, three different phases are discerned and elaborated on by presenting data for each of the countries included in the database: the social base of councillor recruitment, the activation, apprenticeship and election of the councillors and their career development. In line with the theoretical underpinnings, each phase is considered as a dynamic interaction between the supply of eligible candidates and the demands of selectors in the political system embedded in a structure of opportunities. To organise the characteristics under study in each phase, we discern two ideal-typical pathways to and in office, i.e. the layman mode and its professional counterpart (see below). Although our database is the first to allow such a broad and comparative perspective, we still have to keep in mind two qualifications. First, the crosssectional nature of the database does not allow scrutiny of longitudinal trends in recruitment and careers, though the existing literature might provide bench-B. Egner et al. (eds.

Mind the gap: Australian local government reform and councillors’ understandings of their roles

“…While all elements discussed by Diefenbach (2009) are relevant to a discussion of local government reform, the emphasis upon business-like approaches and strategic objectives, coupled with the establishment of management and managers 'as a separate and distinct organisational function' (see Table 1) are, arguably, the aspects of NPM which have had the strongest impact upon the role of councillors in Australia. Krapp et al (2013) examined NPM in the context of local government, arguing that NPM reforms pose a fundamental question about the function of local councillors, who are now required to focus on strategic objectives and desist from interfering in operations. They also argued that while councillors' roles may change under NPM, at the same time they ought to expect better performance from local government administrations.…”

Analysing governance through local leaders’ perceptions: comparative surveys, academic networks, and main results (review article)

“…A general decline in the power of assemblies has also been confirmed, with few exceptions (Denters et al, 2006): local councilors themselves widely acknowledged an insufficient capacity to influence the overall activity of the local authorities (Egner, 2013). At the apex of the local executives, a long-term movement towards some forms of professionalization has increased the distance between the "amateur" positions in the assemblies and the steering executive positions: mayors dedicate themselves full time to the charge more and more often, with a heavy workload in terms of hours spent.…”

“…5) as well as in Egner et al (2013b). For a comparison of attitudes towards administrative reforms among countries, see Krapp et al (2013). In addition, the partners involved in the survey published national results (like Egner et al, 2013).…”

“…The successive analyses of the European local agenda through the cross-national surveys (Cabria et al, 2018;Egner et al, 2013;Magnier et al, 2006;Ramírez Pérez et al, 2008) propose a more moderate assessment. They show that the large majority of local European mayors combine this developmental perspective with other priorities, mainly regarding social welfare provision, which has increasingly influenced the agenda during the persistent economic crisis.…”

“…Perceptions of problems with respect to the functioning of local government administration and attitudes towards administrative reforms were the themes of a number of articles resulting from the various surveys (Alba and Navarro, 2006;Egner and Heinelt, 2006;Krapp et al, 2013). The main finding of the surveys on mayors, councillors, and the highest-ranking appointed employees can be summarized as follows: reforms have not been implemented following a widespread and strong belief in NPM ideas.…”