Presidentialization of the Mayoralty in Belgium

Within the framework of the second comparative European Mayor-project we are collecting data on the attitudes and characteristics of the Belgian mayor. In the light of this paper we are especially interested in leadership styles of mayors and the way they act within the broad local political sphere. The presidentialization of politics theory states that political leaders act more independent from both their executive and party and that they are more important during electoral campaigns. The aim is to test this theory on the local political level in Flanders (Belgium). We expect that mayors who obtained a strong electoral mandate will also behave more presidential in both their party and local executive board. Using the Party Significance Index (PSI) and indicators for executive presidentialization we will search for links between this three faces of presidentialization.