Samenvatting

In the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium), the municipal council plays an important role in promoting various forms of citizen participation. It is therefore important to know how council members view different forms of participation. In this contribution, we mainly focus on two forms. On the one hand, we will look at deliberative forms, such as citizen panels and citizen summits, in which citizens discuss a specific theme and ultimately provide advice. On the other hand, we study aggregative forms, such as referendums, in which citizens can individually make their voices heard on a policy proposal through a vote. Both forms have the potential to strengthen democratic processes and increase citizen involvement, but the way in which they are deployed and followed up depends on political support. Our findings show that council members in the Netherlands and Flanders seem to have more support for deliberative forms of participation than for aggregative forms. This support translates into various advantages and disadvantages that municipal council members identify for both forms and which we link to democratic values: inclusion, citizenship, influence on policy, deliberation and legitimacy.