Foundation or Fragment of Local Democracy? Empirically Assessing the Roles of Local Councillors in Belgian Governance

Abstract

It is often argued that local governance conflicts with the prescribed functioning of local councillors. We could wonder if councillors have become fragments of local democracy, rather than the foundation they are supposed to be. This article empirically assesses the classic role-set (representation, policy, control) of local councillors in Belgian governance. Besides pointing to a gap between theory and practice, it underlines a substantial discrepancy between councillors’ role attitude and subsequent behaviour. This democratic deficit seems mainly due to the informal decision-making culture in Belgian (local) politics, i.e. the dominance of the local executive and stringent party discipline. Keywords: • local councillors • role-set • governance • democratic deficit • Belgium