Strong mayors' leadership capital: New York, London and Amsterdam (2000-2026)

This thesis examines mayors and their interaction with their institutional limits. In particular, it considers, from the perspective of political leadership studies, how far mayors fitting the strong-mayor typology are able to assert their will in the face of these institutional limits. David Sweeting’s expositions on the strong-mayor model, supplemented by those of other theorists, form the thesis’ theoretical framework. This framework is applied to three original case studies (Michael Bloomberg in New York and Ken Livingstone & Boris Johnson in London). A fourth case study, of Job Cohen in Amsterdam, follows these and offers alternative perspectives (based upon the application a model of an appointed mayoralty). The analytical tool chosen – the Leadership Capital Index (LCI) – is a recent innovation in political leadership studies. The thesis’ findings demonstrate that there was clear potential for all of the mayors within the systems examined to asser their political will. What varies is how far mayors in different forms of strong-mayor systems can do this and how they achieve it. With regard to the LCI, the study concludes that it needs further development if it is to achieve longevity in terms of its place in the field. The thesis ends by outlining the future research agenda emerging as a result of this study