Why do councillors quit prematurely? On the democratic consequences of councillors leaving their seats before the end of their terms

In: Lex localis: journal of local self-government, Band 9, Heft 4, S. 297-310

Abstract

In Sweden, one out of six councillors leave council before their term ends, which is often claimed to signal a crisis for democracy. We critically scrutinize this by surveying the motives behind dropping out. The claim may be right if political motives dominate, but if private motives dominate, dropouts do not signal a crisis for democracy. Questionnaires were sent to all premature dropouts from 2002-2006 and 2006-2009 in 13 municipalities. We find that private reasons dominate, and a majority of the respondents report that they enjoyed their time in council. Therefore premature dropouts cannot be claimed to signal a crisis for local democracy.

Keywords: • de-recruitment • premature dropouts • local politics • political parties • local government