A Framework for city leadership in multilevel governance settings: the comparative contexts of Italy and the UK

Leslie Budd,Alessandro Sancino

doi:10.1080/21681376.2015.1125306

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of city leadership in the current multilevel governance settings and provides a conceptual framework for understanding the main elements of city leadership. Forms of political, managerial and civic leadership have been distinguished within city leadership and the main actors, structures, processes and followership patterns are examined using Italy and the UK as starting points of comparison. This comparative framework sheds a light on some common and different features in the city leadership patterns in Italy and the UK, such as the cross-cutting and multilayered administrative context for public service delivery; the common trend towards strengthening the executive side of political leadership rather than the representative one; the growing relevance of forms of civic leadership as a trigger for creating public and social value and for enhancing the resilience of the territories. Main differences deal instead with the role of central government in defining the role of city leaders, where Italy seems to experience a return towards greater centralization and controls, and the UK is experiencing an opposite trend towards the empowerment of local communities. Finally, the paper sets out some future directions for the research agenda on city leadership we are seeking to pursue.

Highlights

Leadership studies date back centuries, often associated with strategic issues of politics and war
Civic leadership is generally enacted by individuals operating in small organizations, in most of the cases built around informal social relationships and common values (e.g., Putnam, 1993)
The baseline structure of the UK local government system stems from the Local Government Act 1972, which introduced the two-tier system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, and metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts:

Summary

Introduction

Leadership studies date back centuries, often associated with strategic issues of politics and war. In terms of leadership processes, Italian local government organizations and their public managers operate in turbulent and contradictory contexts. They face a top-down trend characterized by reduction financial transfers from the central government. The key actors in Italian city leadership are undoubtedly the directly elected mayors They were introduced in Italy in 1993; this reform introduced a presidential local government model, replacing the previous model based on a proportional system The widespread view is that this reform is considered as a successful one Again social contacts and the sharing of the values pursued by civic organizations seem to be the most relevant factor for activating and mobilizing citizens

Background

Findings

Conclusions