Governing inter-municipal partnerships in the Netherlands: a democratic deficit.

In response to ongoing processes of decentralization, municipalities across European countries have been part of extensive municipal amalgamations, have engaged in ever-expanding inter-municipal collaborations, or have experienced both reforms. While amalgamations are usually negatively assessed by citizens, we still lack knowledge on the democratic performance of inter-municipal partnerships. This paper provides an assessment of the day-to-day functioning of inter-municipal partnerships in the Netherlands, a country in which the combination of trends is most clearly visible. Based on semi-structured interviews with politicians and civil servants active in the boards of inter-municipal organizations, the paper confirms the lack of democratic oversight on inter-municipal partnerships. However, the analysis also highlights three other, so far underestimated problems of these partnerships: their lack of transparency, the multiplication of roles by board members, and the prevalence of informal networks. In combination, these findings reveal that inter-municipal collaboration results in a considerable democratic deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]