Guardians of Governance? Differences in Local Politicians’ Perceived Influence on Participatory Trajectories
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54195/plc.23622Keywords:
local politicians, perceived influence, participatory democracyAbstract
This exploratory study contributes to understanding the intricate relationships between local politicians and participatory democracy, shedding light on the perceived influence politicians exert on participatory trajectories. It delves into how they perceive to influence the design, process, and short-term outcomes of participatory trajectories. Moreover, we explore how this varies across politicians’ positions (executive, majority, and opposition councillors) and across different types of citizen participation. We conducted 34 in-depth interviews with a diverse group of Flemish (Belgian) local politicians (24) and civil servants (10). First, our findings reveal that executive politicians act as guardians in the design and short-term outcome stages. However, in the ongoing process, individual political influence is perceived as absent. Second, political influence differs in the design stage between government-initiated and bottom-up trajectories. Opposition councillors only seem to influence the short-term outcome in top-down-initiated referenda.
Downloads
References
Acar, L., Boelen, L., Steen, T., Steyvers, K., & Verschuere, B. (2023). Vernieuwingen in de lokale participatieve en representatieve democratie. Compilatierapport 1. Onderzoeksopzet.
Baekgaard, M., Blom‐Hansen, J., & Serritzlew, S. (2022). How politicians see their relationship with top bureaucrats: Revisiting classical images. Governance, 35(1), 5–24.
Banfield, E. (2017). Political influence. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315126678
Bartoletti, R., & Faccioli, F. (2016). Public engagement, local policies, and citizens’ participation: An Italian case study of civic collaboration. Social Media + Society, 2(3), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116662187
Bobbio, L. (2018). Designing effective public participation. Policy and Society, 38(1), 41–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2018.1511193
Boelen, L. & Steyvers, K. (2022). For better or for worse? A systematic literature review on the effects of local participatory arrangements and their contributing factors. ECPR General Conference 2022, Proceedings. Presented at the ECPR General Conference 2022, Innsbruck, Austria.
Bussu, S., Bua, A., Dean, R., & Smith, G. (2022). Introduction: Embedding participatory governance. Critical Policy Studies, 16(2), 133–145.
Caluwaerts, D., Kern, A., Reuchamps, M., & Valcke, T. (2020). Between party democracy and citizen democracy: Explaining attitudes of Flemish local chairs towards democratic innovations. Politics of the Low Countries, 2(2), 192–213.
Dalton, R. J., Burklin, W. P., & Drummond, A. (2001). Public opinion and direct democracy. Journal of Democracy, 12(4), 141–153.
De Smedt, N., Goutry, W., Steyvers, K., & Wauters, B. (2025). Resistor or meta-governor? Role conceptions of local elected representatives in participatory trajectories. Administration & Society, 57(5), 695–726. https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997251328678.
De Smedt, N., Haesevoets, T., Steyvers, K., & Wauters, B. (2024). The relationship between local councillors’ representative style and their support for participatory democracy. Party Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688241261954
De Smedt, N., Haesevoets, T., Steyvers, K., & Wauters, B. (2025). Instrumental councillors? On the strategic interests that drive local councillors’ legitimacy perceptions of citizen participation. Policy Studies, 1–23.
Dezeure, K., Cluytens, R., & Van Reppelen, J. (2022). Analyserapport Labo lokale burgerparticipatie.
Dür, A. (2008). Measuring interest group influence in the EU: A note on methodology. European Union Politics, 9(4), 559–576.
Elstub, S., & Escobar, O. (2019). Handbook of democratic innovation and governance. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Esaiasson, P., & Öhberg, P. (2020). The moment you decide, you divide: How politicians assess procedural fairness. European Journal of Political Research, 59(3), 714–730.
Fernández-Martínez, J. L., Font, J., & Smith, G. (2023). The Sin of omission? The public justification of cherry picking. The impacts of democratic innovations, 233–253.
Font, J. T. P., & Smith, G. (2019). Studying cherrypicking: substantive and methodological reflections.
Goutry, W., Steyvers, K., Verschuere, B., & Haesevoets, T. (2024). Varieties of local participation? A vignette survey on local executive politicians’ legitimacy perceptions towards different participatory arrangements. International Political Science Review, 46(3), 353–369.
Grönlund, K., Setälä, M., & Herne, K. (2010). Deliberation and civic virtue: Lessons from a citizen deliberation experiment. European Political Science Review, 2(1), 95–117.
Haesevoets, T., Roets, A., Steyvers, K., Verschuere, B., & Wauters, B. (2023). Towards a multifaceted measure of perceived legitimacy of participatory governance. Governance, 37(3), 711–728.
Haesevoets, T., Verschuere, B., & Roets, A. (2024). People’s preferred balance between politicians, citizens, and experts in policy-making decisions. Policy Studies, 1–26.
Hendriks, C., & Lees-Marshment, J. (2019). Political leaders and public engagement: The hidden world of informal elite-citizen interaction. Political Studies, 67(3), 597–617.
Hendriks, C. M. (2006). When the forum meets interest politics: Strategic uses of public deliberation. Politics & society, 34(4), 571–602.
Hendriks, C. M. (2016). Coupling citizens and elites in deliberative systems: The role of institutional design. European Journal of Political Research, 55(1), 43–60.
Jäntti, A., Paananen, H., Kork, A.-A., & Kurkela, K. (2023). Towards interactive governance: Embedding citizen participation in local government. Administration & Society, 55(8), 1529–1554.
Junius, N., Matthieu, J., Caluwaerts, D., & Erzeel, S. (2020). Is it interests, ideas or institutions? Explaining elected representatives’ positions toward democratic innovations in 15 European countries. Frontiers in Political Science, 2, 1–14.
Kaftan, L., & Gessler, T. (2024). The democracy I like: Perceptions of democracy and opposition to democratic backsliding. Government and Opposition, 1–24.
Karlsson, M. (2012). Participatory initiatives and political representation: The case of local councillors in Sweden. Local Government Studies, 38(6), 795–815.
Kersting, N. (2016). Participatory turn? Comparing citizens’ and politicians’ Perspectives on online and offline local political participation. Lex Localis-Journal of Local Self-Government, 14(2), 251–236.
Klijn, E.-H., & Koppenjan, J. (2000). Politicians and interactive decision making: Institutional spoilsports or playmakers. Public Administration, 78(2), 365–387.
Michels, A. (2011). Innovations in democratic governance: How does citizen participation contribute to a better democracy? International Review of Administrative Sciences, 77(2), 275–293.
Michels, A. M. B. (2006). Citizen participation and democracy in the Netherlands. Democratization, 13(2), 323–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510340500524067
Mouritzen, P. E., & Svara, J. H. (2002). Leadership at the apex: Politicians and administrators in Western local governments. University of Pittsburgh Press.
Nam, T. (2012). Suggesting frameworks of citizen-sourcing via Government 2.0. Government Information Quarterly, 29(1), 12–20.
Nederhand, J., & Edelenbos, J. (2023). Legitimate public participation: AQ methodology on the views of politicians. Public Administration Review, 83(3), 522–536.
Newton, K., & Geissel, B. (2012). Evaluating democratic innovations: Curing the democratic malaise? Routledge.
Núñez, L., Close, C., & Bedock, C. (2016). Changing democracy? Why inertia is winning over innovation. Representation, 52(4), 341–357.
Pálsdóttir, V. B., Gherghina, S., & Tap, P. (2023). Why do politicians not act upon citizens’ deliberations? Evidence from Iceland. Political Studies Review, 23(3), 718–738.
Plüss, L. (2014). Steering, not rowing? An analysis of the political influence, the role perceptions, and the behavior of swiss city councillors in different urban governance contexts. Urban Affairs Review, 50(4), 490–520.
Pogrebinschi, T., & Ryan, M. (2018). Moving beyond input legitimacy: When do democratic innovations affect policy making? European Journal of Political Research, 57(1), 135–152.
Rojon, S., Rijken, A. J., & Klandermans, B. (2019). A survey experiment on citizens’ preferences for ‘vote-centric’ vs. ‘talk-centric’ democratic innovations with advisory vs. binding outcomes. Politics and Governance, 7(2), 213–226.
Schmidt, V., & Wood, M. (2019). Conceptualizing throughput legitimacy: Procedural mechanisms of accountability, transparency, inclusiveness and openness in EU governance. Public Administration, 97(4), 727–740.
Setälä, M., & Schiller, T. (2009). Referendums and representative democracy: Responsiveness, accountability and deliberation (Vol. 62). Routledge.
Sønderskov, M. (2020). Councillors’ attitude to citizen participation in policymaking as a driver of, and barrier to, democratic innovation. The Innovation Journal, 25(3), 1–20.
Sørensen, E., Hendriks, C. M., Hertting, N., & Edelenbos, J. (2020). Political boundary spanning: Politicians at the interface between collaborative governance and representative democracy. Policy and Society, 39(4), 530–569.
Sørensen, E., & Torfing, J. (2016). Theories of democratic network governance. Springer.
Steyvers, K. (2016). A knight in white satin armour? New institutionalism and mayoral leadership in the era of governance. European Urban and Regional Studies, 23(3), 289–305.
Strandberg, K., Backström, K., Berg, J., & Karv, T. (2021). Democratically sustainable local development? The outcomes of mixed deliberation on a municipal merger on participants’ social trust, political trust, and political efficacy. Sustainability, 13(13), 7231.
Thompson, N. (2019). The role of elected representatives in democratic innovations. In S. Elstub & O. Escobar (Eds.), Handbook of democratic innovation and governance (pp. 255–268). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Van Damme, J., Jacquet, V., Schiffino, N., & Reuchamps, M. (2017). Public consultation and participation in Belgium: Directly engaging citizens beyond the ballot box? Policy analysis in Belgium, 215, 215–234.
Vandeleene, A., De Winter, L., & Baudewyns, P. (2019). Candidates, Parties and Voters in the Belgian Partitocracy. Springer.
Verhelst, T., Reynaert, H., & Steyvers, K. (2011). Foundation or fragment of local democracy? Empirically assessing the roles of local councillors in Belgian governance. Lex localis, 9(2), 103–122.
Vrydagh, J. (2022). Measuring the impact of consultative citizen participation: Reviewing the congruency approaches for assessing the uptake of citizen ideas. Policy Sciences, 55(1), 65–88.
Vrydagh, J., & Caluwaerts, D. (2023). How do mini-publics affect public policy? Disentangling the influences of a mini-public on public policy using the Sequential Impact Matrix Framework. Representation, 59(1), 117–136.
Vrydagh, J., Devillers, S., & Reuchamps, M. (2023). The integration of deliberative mini-publics in collaborative governance through the perspectives of citizens and stakeholders: The case of the education reform in French-speaking Belgium. Representation, 59(1), 95–116.
Werner, H., & Marien, S. (2022). Process vs. outcome? How to evaluate the effects of participatory processes on legitimacy perceptions. British Journal of Political Science, 52(1), 429–436.
Winsvold, M., & Vabo, S. I. (2024). How well do participatory governance arrangements serve political leadership? Governance, 37(4), 1061–1079.
Witting, I., Wagenaar, C., & Hendriks, F. (2023). Improving referendums with deliberative democracy: A systematic literature review. International Political Science Review, 46(1), 40–56.
Yang, K., & Callahan, K. (2007). Citizen involvement efforts and bureaucratic responsiveness: Participatory values, stakeholder pressures, and administrative practicality. Public administration review, 67(2), 249–264.
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications. Sage Publications.
Downloads
Published
Data Availability Statement
The qualitative data from in-depth interviews with local elites (politicians and civil servants) are not publicly available due to confidentiality and anonymity guarantees given to the respondents.
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Willem Goutry, Nina De Smedt (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
