Explaining the transparency of local government websites through a political market framework

This article seeks to analyse the trends towards professionalisation in local elected representatives in Europe. It focuses mainly on the situation of executive members. Because of the difficulty of defining the concept, the professionalisation of local government leadership is studied from two angles: an investigation into institutional evolutions that have served to accelerate the professionalisation process (division of labour in favour of executive members, direct election of the mayor, evolution of remuneration) and an empirical approach to evaluating the indicators of professionalisation (time spent in the exercise of office, elected office as a normal professional activity, affirmation of political careers).

From Amateurs to Professionals: The Changing Face of Local Elected Representatives in Europe

The municipal structure of the Czech Republic experienced a wave of fragmentation after the fall of the communist regime. As a result, most Czech municipalities today have populations of only a few hundred inhabitants. This situation creates specific conditions for the democratic functioning of local representative bodies. In this paper we focus on two features of Czech local government. First, we deal with electoral competitiveness in Czech municipalities; second, we analyse councillors' accountability to voters, their readiness to stand for re-election and their electoral success in successive elections. Based on an analysis of data on individual candidates and elected councillors in four successive terms, we demonstrate that the willingness to stand for election and re-election does not decrease over time; however, the choice among different candidates is limited in the smallest municipalities. Thus, the data show a reduced willingness to stand for re-election and an extraordinarily high chanc...

Size and Local Democracy: the Case of Czech Municipal Representatives

The changing face of local elected representatives in Europe

Despite parliament's apparent pre-eminence, French MPs have seen their institution go into ‘decline'. From radical criticism of parliament's omnipotence under the two preceding Republics, after 1958 it was the weakness of the French Houses and their inability to play their role in full which were being condemned. This article analyses this situation based on new data. It shows that even if the National Assembly has lost some of its former glory, holding office as an MP is increasingly becoming a profession for those elected to it. This article's stance is two-fold: on the one hand it highlights the normalisation process of parliamentary careers and profiles and, on the other, it sheds light on the concomitant factors which have accentuated the professionalisation process. The analysis also shows the key role played by the ‘cumul des mandats' in the structure of political careers in France.

MPs under the Fifth Republic: Professionalisation within a Weak Institution

Complexite croissante des responsabilites, professionnalisation, affirmation des logiques de gouvernance, limitation du cumul des mandats, parite? Autant de nouveaux defis que doivent affronter les elus locaux europeens. 

Quelles sont les consequences de ces changements sur la representation democratique locale ? Le gouvernement des territoires s'est-il transforme au point de ne plus laisser la place qu'a une « caste » de professionnels ? Cette evolution touche-t-elle tous les pays de l'Union europeenne ? 

Le present ouvrage apporte une serie de reponses a ces questions en examinant les regles qui encadrent l'acces, l'exercice et l'interruption des fonctions electives dans les vingt-cinq pays europeens. Partant de cette perspective comparative et reposant sur des donnees sociologiques souvent inedites, il met en lumiere les bouleversements qui, partout, affectent l'exercice des fonctions electives locales.

Redige dans un style clair et accessible, ce livre s'adresse, au-dela des etudiants, journalistes, elus et fonctionnaires des collectivites locales, a un large public qui ne peut etre indifferent aux problematiques du gouvernement local
Introduction

Vers une professionnalisation croissante 

Approche comparee du statut des elus locaux de l'UE 

Methodologie

Plan de l'ouvrage 

Chapitre liminaire - Un cadre d'action elargi pour les elus locaux : l'Europe et la decentralisation
La reconnaissance europeenne du principe d'autonomie locale

L'election au suffrage universel direct des executifs locaux 

Le renforcement du pouvoir executif local

 

1. L'acces au mandat : la volonte de democratisation et ses limites 
Etre candidat aux elections locales 

Etre elu 

Les pesanteurs sociologiques 

2. Vers un statut professionnel des elus locaux ? 
Des systemes de remuneration complexes et fortement differencies 

Les conditions de travail : des dispositifs partiels 

Conclusion

Annexes

1. Le cadre legislatif de l'autonomie locale et son evolution recente 

2. Charte europeenne de l'autonomie locale 

3. Bibliographie

4. Liste des tableaux et encadres

Elodie Guerin-Lavignotte

Papers

The changing face of local elected representatives in Europe

Les élus locaux en Europe : un statut en mutation