Regards d’élus municipaux sur les relations entre élus et direction générale dans les municipalités québécoises de moins de 10 000 habitants

Abstract

The relationship between city manager and elected municipal officials is not without its challenges, particularly in Quebec municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. Even though the elective function may take on certain specificities in these municipalities, how do elected officials perceive the role and relationship with city manager, and how can these conceptions possibly influence the elective function? Drawing on work that analyzes the links between administration and politics, and based on the results of a survey of elected officials in municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants (n= 126) and semi-structured interviews (n= 32), we show that while the role of city manager is clearly defined for elected officials, on a day-to-day basis it is based on context-dependent relationships, giving rise to varied areas of interaction between administration and politics, which can define a specific political leadership.