The European Mayor Political Leaders in the Changing Context of Local Democracy

Henry Bäck, Annick Magnier and Hubert Heinelt There are various images of the political leader in Europe’s cities and towns. There is the time-honoured ceremonial mayor watching over the keys of the city. But there also is the political boss ruthlessly governing his/her ‘subjects’. We might also offer the streamlined university educated professional or the - ecutive committee leader promoted to a primus inter pares after long service in a political party. With this book we aim to describe and analyse the selection, daily life, networks and values of local top political leaders in seventeen European co- tries. The empirical basis for the investigation into town halls across Europe is a survey conducted mainly in 2003 and 2004 with mayors and corresponding top local political leaders. The data covering responses from more than 2,700 lead- 1 ers constitute a unique and rich material allowing descriptions and analyses pursuing a number of lines of inquiry.

Typologies of Local Government Systems.- ‘From the Few are Chosen the Few...’ On the Social Background of European Mayors.- The Mayor’s Political Career.- Gendered Roads to Mayorship in Different Welfare States.- Does Recruitment Matter? Selecting Path and Role Definition.- Mayors, Citizens and Local Democracy.- Aspects of Leadership Styles: An Interaction of Context and Personalities.- Urban Systems as Growth Machines? Mayors’ Governing Networks against Global Indeterminacy.- Mayors in Vertical Power Relations.- Divided Loyalties? Mayors between Party Representation and Local Community Interests.- Duo or Duel? The Relations between Mayors and Councils in Democratic Local Government.- Mayors and Local Administrators: A Puzzling Relationship.- Political Complexity or Managerial Simplicity? Mayoral Norms of Organisational Leadership.- European Mayors and Administrative Reforms.- Strong Mayors? On Direct Election and Political Entrepreneurship.

Henry Bäck is professor of Public Administration at the School of Public Administration, Göteborg University.
Dr. Hubert Heinelt is professor for public administration/ public policy and urban studies at the Institute for Political Science of Darmstadt University of Technology.
Annick Magnier is professor of Urban Sociology at the University of Florence, Facoltà di Scienze Politiche "Cesare Alfieri".