ABSTRACT

How did Belgian and Dutch mayors experience their own role and that of local government during the first few months of the COVID-19 outbreak? This question was addressed by drawing on three analytical perspectives (functional, territorial, and political) on local government systems and using a qualitative case study design. Interestingly, the position and leeway of Belgian and Dutch mayors did not differ that much during the first crisis months. The type of virus and scope of the outbreak necessitated a centralised approach. Consequently, the decisions were made at the national level and mayors focused primarily on implementing these central measures. Moreover, Belgian and Dutch mayors experienced a similar shift in terms of (1) power and authority (respectively to the provincial governor and the national level and to the regional mayor and the national level); (2) tasks (prioritising crisis management over other tasks); and (3) roles (increasing importance of their executive role while lamenting the effects of COVID-19 on their social role vis-à-vis their citizens).

摘要

在 COVID-19 爆发的头几个月，比利时和荷兰的市长如何体验自己和当地政府的角色？这个问题是通过对地方政府系统的三个分析观点（功能、领土和政治）和使用定性案例研究设计来解决的。有趣的是，比利时和荷兰市长的立场和回旋余地在最初的危机月份并没有太大差异。病毒的类型和爆发的范围需要采取集中的方法。因此，这些决定是在国家层面做出的，市长们主要关注的是实施这些核心措施。而且，比利时和荷兰的市长在（1）权力和权威方面经历了类似的转变（分别是省长和国家层面以及地区市长和国家层面）；(2) 任务（将危机管理优先于其他任务）；(3) 角色（增加其执行角色的重要性，同时感叹 COVID-19 对其公民的社会角色的影响）。