Local political leadership and the governance of urban security in Belgium and the Netherlands
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| Author | Elke Devroe |
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370812473544 |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
European Journal of Criminology
10(3) 314 –325
© The Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370812473544
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Local political leadership
and the governance of urban
security in Belgium and the
Netherlands
Elke Devroe
Leiden University, The Netherlands
Abstract
In this paper, the meaning of the ‘governance of security’ in Belgium and the Netherlands will
be explored. It is argued that the role of the mayor is substantial in both countries. This is why
this article focuses explicitly on the political leadership of the mayor. The first section provides
a comparison between Belgium and the Netherlands, contrasting their different constitutional-
legal settlements and the relationship of these two cultures of control in the two countries. The
consequences for which authorities and actors are ‘responsibilized’ for undertaking strategies of
urban security governance are discussed. In a following section, the paper examines the current
and potential challenges for governing urban security across both countries. In the final section,
the dilemma of politics and science as drivers of policy responses to urban security problems is
considered, identifying in particular certain deficits in mayoral expertise and training. The paper
concludes that, despite a common tendency in comparative politics to group the ‘Low Countries’
together (given their strong historical and cultural connections), a powerful contrast is highlighted
between the effects of federal and unitary constitution-legal settlements on policy responses to
urban security.
Keywords
Constitution-legal settlements, governance, mayor, political leadership, urban security
Introduction
In Belgium, with 3 regions, 27 judicial districts, 11 provinces and 195 police zones,
urban governance is closely embedded at the local level (Van Outrive et al., 1992). The
mayor in Belgium is an independent political figure, with every municipality being more
Corresponding author:
Elke Devroe, Institute for Criminal Law & Criminology, Leiden Law School, Leiden University, 2311 ES
Leiden, The Netherlands.
Email: e.devroe@law.leidenuniv.nl
473544EUC10310.1177/1477370812473544European Journal of CriminologyDevroe
2013
Article
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