This article confronts several theoretical role-models about mayor's behaviour with their own perception. For this purpose, the statistical data is drawn from a survey among Flemish mayors. Mayors perceive the ''father of the community" role as the most prevailing one. This perception is reflected in their timespending. More than 1/4 of their time is dedicated towards activities such as participation in the community life, individual service rendering to citizens and having individual contacts with them. The father of the community' role lives strongly among mayors with a lower educational degree and less among the higher educated ones. It is also more perceived among mayors being recent office-bolders, while the more experienced ones seem more to maintain a certain distance from this role. Moreover, mayors with a lower educational degree are recordholders in having individual contacts with citizens. Finally, no relation has been found between roleperception and timespending on the one hand and party background on the other hand.

The way politicians get in contact with local polities in Flanders bas been examined based on the sociological distinction between ascribed and achieved status positions. Politically active relatives were considered characteristic of ascribed local mandates. Membership of different associations was seen as a way of personally achieving a local mandate. The results indicate that a combination of both was most frequently occuring. In spite of popular convictions, family was still quite important to get in contact with politics. This is shown in the high rates of respondents having politically active relatives. Next to this, a lot of political involvement occured via participation in a diversity of associations. Participations considered were membership, diligence and officeholding in a political party, a union, a health insurance organisation, an advisory body and all other political or non-political associations.