Resistor or Meta-Governor? Role Conceptions of Local Elected Representatives in Participatory Trajectories

The increasing use of participatory arrangements in local governance challenges the position and role of elected politicians. This article examines how local elected politicians think they should behave in such a shifting environment. It assembles images and sets of roles blending existing theoretical approaches. We test these conceptions empirically in a survey of local elected politicians in Flanders (Belgium). Our results show that representatives identify with a variety of images. They thus tend to endorse a broad range of roles in participatory governance. Ultimately, we end up with two main comprehensive and integrated sets: “meta-governor” and “resistor.” Variations in these sets can partially be explained by the position of politicians and their ideological convictions.