Analysing policy actors’ preferences for different modes of governing in local government
- Author
- Bram Verschuere (UGent) , Arne Roets (UGent) , Kristof Steyvers (UGent) , Bram Wauters (UGent) , Liese Berkvens (UGent) , Nina De Smedt (UGent) , Willem Goutry (UGent) , Gilles Pittoors (UGent) , Ruben Van Severen (UGent) and Tessa Haesevoets (UGent)
- Organization
- Project
- Abstract
- Effective citizen participation in policy decision making depends on the support of all democratic actors involved: citizens, but also politicians and civil servants. Drawing on data from over 4,000 respondents, we explore the existence of so-called 'multi-actor clusters', that is, groups of people who are characterised by a positive (or negative) stance towards different modes of local policy decision making, irrespective of their formal-institutional role (politician, civil servant or citizen). Cluster analysis shows two large clusters of respondents that clearly prefer participatory over representative policy decision making. The analysis also highlights a substantial cluster of respondents who clearly prefer representative policy decision making modes over participatory ones. Further analysis shows that a democratic actor's cluster membership is better predicted by individual (ideological) variables (such as left-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation), compared to contextual variables (like governing capacity, democratic quality, and social capital of the municipality in which the actors work and/or live). This research is important because it challenges the assumption that citizen participation is to be considered primarily as (part of) the solution for local governance problems like a lack of governing capacity, low social capital or decreased democratic quality in/of specific local communities. In this way, it contributes to our understanding of participatory forms of governance.
- Keywords
- citizen participation, policy decision making, democracy, multi-actor, clusters, local government, governance, SOCIAL-DOMINANCE ORIENTATION, POLITICAL REPRESENTATION, WILLINGNESS, PERSONALITY, DEMOCRACY, IDEOLOGY, SUPPORT
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01J4VFEE8TM4GG1F0ZY1KV1CYR
- MLA
- Verschuere, Bram, et al. “Analysing Policy Actors’ Preferences for Different Modes of Governing in Local Government.” POLICY AND POLITICS, vol. 53, no. 1, 2025, pp. 22–43, doi:10.1332/03055736Y2024D000000048.
- APA
- Verschuere, B., Roets, A., Steyvers, K., Wauters, B., Berkvens, L., De Smedt, N., … Haesevoets, T. (2025). Analysing policy actors’ preferences for different modes of governing in local government. POLICY AND POLITICS, 53(1), 22–43. https://doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2024D000000048
- Chicago author-date
- Verschuere, Bram, Arne Roets, Kristof Steyvers, Bram Wauters, Liese Berkvens, Nina De Smedt, Willem Goutry, Gilles Pittoors, Ruben Van Severen, and Tessa Haesevoets. 2025. “Analysing Policy Actors’ Preferences for Different Modes of Governing in Local Government.” POLICY AND POLITICS 53 (1): 22–43. https://doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2024D000000048.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Verschuere, Bram, Arne Roets, Kristof Steyvers, Bram Wauters, Liese Berkvens, Nina De Smedt, Willem Goutry, Gilles Pittoors, Ruben Van Severen, and Tessa Haesevoets. 2025. “Analysing Policy Actors’ Preferences for Different Modes of Governing in Local Government.” POLICY AND POLITICS 53 (1): 22–43. doi:10.1332/03055736Y2024D000000048.
- Vancouver
- 1.Verschuere B, Roets A, Steyvers K, Wauters B, Berkvens L, De Smedt N, et al. Analysing policy actors’ preferences for different modes of governing in local government. POLICY AND POLITICS. 2025;53(1):22–43.
- IEEE
- [1]B. Verschuere et al., “Analysing policy actors’ preferences for different modes of governing in local government,” POLICY AND POLITICS, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 22–43, 2025.
@article{01J4VFEE8TM4GG1F0ZY1KV1CYR,
abstract = {{Effective citizen participation in policy decision making depends on the support of all democratic actors involved: citizens, but also politicians and civil servants. Drawing on data from over 4,000 respondents, we explore the existence of so-called 'multi-actor clusters', that is, groups of people who are characterised by a positive (or negative) stance towards different modes of local policy decision making, irrespective of their formal-institutional role (politician, civil servant or citizen). Cluster analysis shows two large clusters of respondents that clearly prefer participatory over representative policy decision making. The analysis also highlights a substantial cluster of respondents who clearly prefer representative policy decision making modes over participatory ones. Further analysis shows that a democratic actor's cluster membership is better predicted by individual (ideological) variables (such as left-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation), compared to contextual variables (like governing capacity, democratic quality, and social capital of the municipality in which the actors work and/or live). This research is important because it challenges the assumption that citizen participation is to be considered primarily as (part of) the solution for local governance problems like a lack of governing capacity, low social capital or decreased democratic quality in/of specific local communities. In this way, it contributes to our understanding of participatory forms of governance.}},
author = {{Verschuere, Bram and Roets, Arne and Steyvers, Kristof and Wauters, Bram and Berkvens, Liese and De Smedt, Nina and Goutry, Willem and Pittoors, Gilles and Van Severen, Ruben and Haesevoets, Tessa}},
issn = {{0305-5736}},
journal = {{POLICY AND POLITICS}},
keywords = {{citizen participation,policy decision making,democracy,multi-actor,clusters,local government,governance,SOCIAL-DOMINANCE ORIENTATION,POLITICAL REPRESENTATION,WILLINGNESS,PERSONALITY,DEMOCRACY,IDEOLOGY,SUPPORT}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{22--43}},
title = {{Analysing policy actors’ preferences for different modes of governing in local government}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2024D000000048}},
volume = {{53}},
year = {{2025}},
}
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