Municipal councillors as interest mediators: Roles, perceptions and enactment

Abstract

Municipal councillors are the largest group of directly elected politicians. They maintain bonds with a wide spectrum of actors within local society, and many are also active party members. In becoming members of a collective organ, namely the Municipal Council, councillors participate in ongoing processes of deliberation, bargaining and decision-making that occur inside and outside the council chamber. A proportion of councillors (‘executive’ councillors) hold executive posts and functions - both formal and informal - and are part of the municipal ‘government’ that forms a broad municipal leadership (John 2001; Getimis and Gregoriadou 2004: Getimis and Hlepas 2006).