In this contribution to the special issue on his own book ‘If Mayors Ruled the World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities’ Benjamin Barber first explains the background of his proposal to establish a global parliament of mayors: the failure of nation-states in solving the problems of the 21st century. The hope for a democratic solution lies especially in the rise of the cities and their mayors. A crucial role in this solution should be played by a global parliament of mayors. According to Barber the key issues for such a global parliament of mayors are climate change, immigration, policing and violence and urban autonomy. The biggest practical problem of this project is how thousands of representatives could meet on a regular basis. The digital technology of the information age offers the solution for this practical problem through a virtual platform for meetings of the global parliament of mayors. The global parliament of mayors is a unique form of intercity association that establishes a new form of political authority rooted in universal-rights claims: the rights of the city and citizens. |
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Column |
Morele verantwoordelijkheid kan niet worden uitbesteed |
Auteurs | Dr. Gjalt de Graaf |
Auteursinformatie |
Discussie |
Debat: Op weg naar een wereldwijd parlement van burgemeesters?Wereldwijd Burgemeestersparlement: utopie of utiliteit? |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Bas Denters |
Auteursinformatie |
Discussie |
Een revolutie in het mondiaal bestuur: naar een Wereldwijd Parlement van Burgemeesters |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Benjamin Barber |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Discussie |
Overwegingen over een Wereldwijd Parlement van Burgemeesters |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Eric Corijn |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
The central argument according to Eric Corijn in the book of Benjamin Barber is that a legitimate political authority should be created that can add some governance, some regulation to the world system. Within the world system a democratic deficit has emerged that is caused by the process of globalization, in which international political and economic decisions are taken without reference to a global constituency, civil society, citizenship or global public opinion. Eric Corijn sees four strong arguments for an increased political role of mayors through a Global Parliament of Mayors. He also discusses three structural global challenges that can better be dealt with by cities than by dysfunctional nations: a) our relationship with nature, b) the growing social inequality, c) superdiversity resulting from migration and socio-cultural diversification. In dealing with these issues (the political agenda) the Global Parliament of Mayors should act in a pragmatic way. |
Discussie |
Zes bedenkingen bij de blijde boodschap van Benjamin Barber |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Michiel Herweijer |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
At December 1st 2014 in the Dutch city of Nijmegen (known from the Treaty of Nijmegen, 1678) the yearly VanHeste-lecture took place. This year the mayors Hubert Bruls of Nijmegen (Netherlands) and Louis Tobback of Leuven (Belgium) discussed the binding role of the modern mayor. Their starting point was the latest book of the American political scientist Benjamin Barber ‘If mayors ruled the world’. Michiel Herweijer, professor of Public Administration at Radboud University Nijmegen, is supposed to lead the discussion. To structure the discussion between the two mayors he formulates six questions, which contain six reservations about the gospel of Benjamin Barber. His conclusion is that Barber has written a fascinating book that has aroused much discussion worldwide. This debate is a good thing, because there are at least six good reasons (the six reservations mentioned by Herweijer himself in this contribution) to abandon the idea of a global parliament of mayors. |
Discussie |
Utopie of utiliteit? Enige kanttekeningen bij het debat over een Wereldwijd Parlement van BurgemeestersSlotbeschouwing |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Bas Denters |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
In his concluding remarks the chief editor (and also editor of this special issue) discusses shortly the desirability and feasibility of a global parliament of mayors as proposed by Benjamin Barber. On both points, according to him, the idea of a global parliament of mayors can be questioned. Concerning the desirability of the proposal there is no clarity about the underlying notion of democracy and about its contribution to the democratic goals it aims at. Concerning the feasibility of the proposal Bas Denters questions if Barbers high expectations of the blessings of advanced ICT tools, that will be used for a virtual debating platform, are that realistic. Crucial are also the financial and material resources which are needed for the organization and functioning of a global parliament of mayors. |
Artikel |
Politieke participatie en de omvang van het lokaal bestuur |
Auteurs | Dr. ir. Pepijn van Houwelingen |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Does scaling up municipalities strengthen or does it weaken (local) political participation? This is an important question because of the intention – as it is written down in the Dutch coalition agreement – to gradually scale up Dutch municipalities to 100.000+ inhabitants. This article answers the question on the basis of a meta-analysis, voter turnouts, the national election study and interviews. The author has also examined behavioural indicators for political participation, especially the turnout figures at local elections. The conclusion from this analysis by the author is clear and unambiguous: as the size of the local government (the municipality) increases (local) political participation decreases. For a lot of forms of political participation a size of about 10.000 inhabitants seems to be the optimal scale for local government. Because other (recent) research in the Netherlands has shown that the assumed cost savings from municipal amalgamation are not achieved, the desirability of (further) upscaling of Dutch municipalities can be questioned. |
Diversen |
‘Maar ze hebben er wel over nagedacht’Over de rol van gezag bij het voorkomen van vijandigheid jegens politieke ambtsdragers |
Auteurs | Dr. Niels Karsten |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
The aggression and violence towards political office-holders underline the importance of rethinking public authority. This essay contains an exploration of contemporary sources of authority for political office-holders and especially local executives. This is done on the basis of a review of the literature and an analysis of empirical research in this area. After an exploration of the sources of authority for Dutch mayors and aldermen, these sources of authority are related towards aggression and violence towards political office-holders with the help of the political theory of Chantal Mouffe. Based on this exploration the author argues that political office-holders who invoke generally accepted principles, values and norms, or who use personal sources of authority, are more favorable in the struggle against aggression and violence than other local executives who invoke institutional or delegated sources. |
Praktijk |
Werken aan bevlogenheid. Een onderzoek naar de werkbeleving van gemeentelijke professionals in Nederland |
Auteurs | Frank Oderkerk MSc |
Auteursinformatie |
Praktijk |
Werken aan bevlogenheid. Onderzoek onder gemeentelijke professionalsReactie uit bestuurlijke praktijk |
Auteurs | Mr. Anneke Knol-van Leeuwen |
Auteursinformatie |
Praktijk |
Internationale tijdschriften en boeken |
Auteurs | Dr. Rik Reussing |
Auteursinformatie |