Project

Discipline

Local Politics; Political Elites; City; Comparative Approach; Change and Persistence

Lead
Urbaner Wandel und lokale politische Eliten: Vier Schweizer Städte im Vergleich
Lay summary
Ziel unseres Forschungsprojektes ist es ein besseres Verständnis des Profils lokaler Volksvertreter in der Schweizer Städte. Wie beeinflussen soziale, institutionnelle und politische Veränderungen das Profil lokaler Repräsentanten? Lässt sich eine Zunahme an Demokratisierung und Professionalisierung der städtischen politischen Elite feststellen?  Dabei untersuchen wir die Entwicklung des Profiles der Mitglieder lokaler Regierungen und Parlamente in vier Schweizer Städten (Zürich, Lausanne, Luzern, Lugano) im Hinblick auf Alter, (Aus-)Bildung, Beruf, Geschlecht und Dauer des politischen Engagements zwischen 1946 und 2016 im Zusammenhang mit sozioökonomischen, institutionellen und politischen Wandlungsprozessen. Unser Projekt untersucht sowohl aus vergleichender als auch prosopographischer Perspektive Wandel und Kontinuitäten von urbanen Strukturen sowie politischen Institutionen und Parteien auf lokaler Ebene

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Last update: 13.09.2016

Lead
Transformations urbaines et élites politiques locales. Une étude comparative entre quatre villes de Suisse
Lay summary
Le projet vise à contribuer à une meilleure connaissance du profil des élus dans les villes suisses. Dans quelle mesure les changements sociaux, urbains, institutionnels et politiques affectent le profil des élus ? Peut-on constater des processus de démocratisation et de professionnalisation ? Pour chacune des villes prises en compte (Zurich, Lausanne, Lucerne, Lugano), l’analyse se focalisera sur les caractéristiques des élus locaux (âge, formation, profession, sexe et longévité politique) dans les organes exécutifs et législatifs durant la période entre 1946 et 2016. L’adoption d'une approche comparative s’accompagnera d’une perspective prosopographique, afin de rendre compte des changements et des persistances en lien avec les transformations urbaines, ainsi que les dynamiques institutionnelles et partisanes.

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Last update: 13.09.2016

Lead
Trasformazioni urbane ed élite politiche locali. Uno studio comparato tra quattro città svizzere
Lay summary
Il progetto intende contribuire ad una migliore conoscenza dell’evoluzione del profilo degli politici eletti nelle città svizzere. In che misura i cambiamenti sociali, urbani, istituzionali e politici influenzano il profilo degli eletti? Ed è possibile osservare un incremento della democratizzazione e professionalizzazione dell’élite politica urbana? La ricerca si concentrerà sull'evoluzione delle quattro città svizzere (Zurigo, Lugano, Losanna, Lucerna) che rappresentano diverse tradizioni e dinamiche, dal punto di vista demografico, istituzionale, economico, e politico. Per ciascuno dei comuni coinvolti, analizzeremo l'evoluzione dei rappresentanti eletti (età, formazione, professione, sesso, e la longevità politica) nelle istituzioni esecutive e legislative tra il 1946 e il 2016. Nell’adottare un approccio comparato e prospettiva prosopografica, il progetto intende cogliere cambiamenti e persistenza in relazione allo sviluppo socio-economico, ai modelli istituzionali e alle dinamiche dei partiti.

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Last update: 13.09.2016

Lead
Urban Transformations and Local Political Elites: A Comparative Study among four Swiss Cities
Lay summary
The project aims to contribute to a better knowledge of the profile of elected representatives in Swiss cities. To what extent do social, urban, institutional, and political changes affect the profile of the elected representatives? To what extent is possible to observe an increasing democratization and professionalization? For each of the municipalities involved (Zurich, Lausanne, Luzern, Lugano), we will analyze the characteristics of the elected representatives (age, training, profession, gender, and political longevity) in executive and legislative institutions in the period between 1946 and 2016. Adopting a comparative approach and a prosopographic perspective, the project will adress change and persistence dealing with the urban transformation, institutional patterns and party dynamics.

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Last update: 13.09.2016

Active participation

Self-organised

Active participation

Communication	Title	Media	Place	Year

Number	Title	Start	Funding scheme

Under the pressure of globalization and Europeanization, European States, including Switzerland, are experiencing an increasing transformation of sub-national forms of democratic life, enhancing the importance of local and especially urban political participation and governance (John 2001; Le Galès 2011; Mossberger et al. 2012). Whilst scholars and the public tend to suppose that the differences between now and the first decades after World War II are very strong, few systematic analyses are available. Our research project aims to contribute to a better knowledge of the profile of urban elected representatives over time in connection with the transformation of the urban context, and especially in the period since the 1980s. A number of questions arise: Who are these representatives in charge of local decision-making, both in legislative and executive power, and in what ways are they different from their colleagues of the past? Our main research questions are twofold: To what extent do social, institutional, and political changes affect the profile of the elected representatives? And is it possible to observe an increasing democratization and professionalization of the urban political elite? Assuming sub-national legacies are crucial in the evolution of urban political elites, our project simultaneously adopts a comparative approach and a prosopographic perspective able to take into account change and persistence over time in a detailed manner at the individual level. Our research will focus on the evolution of four cities in Switzerland (Lausanne, Lucerne, Lugano, and Zurich), which represent different legacies among the main urban Municipalities, in terms of demographic, institutional, economic, and political points of view. For each of the municipalities, we will analyze the evolution of the elected representatives (age, training, profession, gender, and political longevity) in legislative and executive institutions in the period between 1946 and 2016, in relation to urban, institutional, and political transformations. More precisely, we want to verify the impact of demographic and socioeconomic settings, local party system changes, institutional and partisan rules, and the role of the municipalities in public policies on the evolution of the profile of local political elites.The project will systematically collect data about every elected representative in each election year, data that is stored in municipal archives and so far remains largely unexploited. An initial harvesting of the data concerning Lausanne and Lugano has revealed the richness of these holdings and allows a systematic examination of the elected representatives, permitting a systematic quantitative analysis. An important goal of the project is to support the recent revitalization of urban research on the political elite and thereby contribute to it catching up with national and international counterparts, where this sub-field has seen a considerable renewal in recent years, bridging with the statewide political elite studies. The organization of an international conference at the end of the research will give the opportunity to bring together leading scholars in the study of the urban political elite and to present the results of the research. Moreover, the research project integrates two PhD studies and therefore contributes to the advancement of young academic careers. Since questions about the political relevance of urban municipalities to Swiss governance, especially in the major cities, have excited more interest in Switzerland in recent years, the proposed research project also seeks to achieve the wide diffusion of its findings, and to reach out not only to the scientific community, but also to the general public.