P35 Managing the complexities of local government - CEO, mayor and councillor relationships
Panel Members & Contact Details
Dr Andy Asquith, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Email: andy.asquith@uts.edu.au
Dr Jeff McNeill, Massey University, New Zealand; Email: j.k.mcneill@massey.ac.nz
Prof. John Martin, La Trobe University, Australia; Email: john.martin@latrobe.edu.au
Prof. Rob Shepherd, Carleton University, Canada; Email: robertpshepherd@cunet.carleton.ca
Prof. Alessandro Spano, University of Cagliari, Italy; Email: spano@unica.it
Summary
This panel revisits the evolving relationship between local government chief executives and their political leaders, a foundational topic in public management research first explored over 40 years ago. It highlights how shifts in governance models, expanded responsibilities around community wellbeing, and increasing complexity have made this relationship more critical than ever. By inviting comparative and case-based studies, the panel seeks to deepen understanding of how these dynamics vary across systems and impact local government effectiveness.
Description
The groundbreaking work of Aberbach, Putnam and Rockman (1981) and Svara (1985), along with the subsequent UDiTE Leadership Study (c.f. Dahler Larsen, 2000; Klausen and Magnier, 1998; Mouritzen and Svara, 2002), highlighted the importance of the complementarity in the relationship between a local government chief executive officer or general manager and their political masters – particularly the mayor or council chairperson. Given the 40-year time frame since the foundations of this area of academic study were laid, we feel it is now timely to revisit and take stock of these key relationships within local government. We identify several themes that may guide research and commentary in this panel.
Aberbach et al. (1981) argued then that the classic politics-administration dichotomy had become increasingly obsolete. Rather, bureaucrats were active policy participants and that the roles of bureaucrats and politicians had become blurred, sharing policy responsibilities in complex and overlapping ways. They also found persistent differences in administrative behaviors and norms reflecting path dependencies shaped by national histories, institutional structures and political cultures.
Since then, we have seen the rise (and even the possible demise) of managerialism, new-institutional economics and new public governance within the neo-liberal context within which all western democracies have operated to some extent since the mid-1980s.
Today, we suggest that within both the Anglosphere and European model of local government, the working relationship between the mayor or council chairperson as the leader of the council and the chief executive officer or general manager leading the council organization is one of the most important relationships in modern local government. Mayors or the council chairperson and chief executive officer or general manager recognise that the breakdown in this relationship can have long lasting, negative impacts on a local government’s capacity to deliver value for money services to its community. Despite this, there is little research which illuminates this relationship.
We also increasingly see local government task-spans evolving, now with roles and responsibilities around community wellbeing – typically centered around economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing. These can also introduce a multi-level governance dimension with local governments either responding to central or regional government demands as has occurred in for example, New Zealand, or as councils proactively advance these ambitions. They introduce new complexities and require new skill-sets for them to be undertaken.
We welcome submissions and case studies from academics, pracademics and practitioners as we seek to update our understanding of these key, yet complex relationships which are critical to the functioning of our local councils. We particularly welcome comparative and case studies that help establish the extent of any significant differences between different local government systems that now exist.