Who Governs Local Affairs? The Influence of Government and Non-governmental Actors on Municipal Activities in Different European Contexts

This chapter examines councillors’ assessments of the extent to which government and non-governmental actors influence municipal activities, comparing countries and exploring some intra-country variations, including also multivariate ordinal logistic regressions. The results suggest a traditional distribution of power at the local level. Those at the top of the formal local hierarchy, primarily the mayor, are most influential, whereas non-governmental actors seem weakest. The economic wealth of the country, associated with Europe’s north–south divide, and to some extent the strong mayoral/non-strong mayoral configurations are prime national characteristics related to local power distribution. Mayors, councillors, and religious groups are perceived as more influential in the south and in strong mayoral systems, whereas in the affluent north and non-strong mayoral systems power is distributed among a broader array of local actors. The prime explanatory role of country affluence is even more marked in questions relating to corruption and value-based issues.