ACTIVE PARTICIPANT OR PASSIVE WITNESS? Role of City Councils in the Creation and Scrutiny of Cities’ International Cooperation

Abstract The growing role of cities in international relations and their impact on nation‐states have been unprecedented in recent decades. What has yet to be revealed is the part that city councils play in this process. In this essay we examine whether city councils are active participants or are dominated by mayors and classify the tools they have at their disposal to exert influence in cities’ international cooperation. Our research methods include desk research of strategy documents and multiple case studies. We obtained our information primarily from the respective city councils and via interviews with the international affairs officers of these cities. Our conclusion is that the role of city councils in creating and scrutinizing international cooperation is relatively narrow and that the activities of cities as a whole are determined mainly by their mayors’ leadership and perceptions of international cooperation.