Social learning for effective governance principles: a quali-quali approach to deliberation within the municipal councils in Brussels

Alomar, Mohamad Amin;Aubin, David;Carlier, Nadège;Moyson, Stéphane
(2022) IASIA 2022 Conference : Implementing and promoting effective governance principles - leave no one, no place behind — Location: Rabat, Morocco (25.July.2022)

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Legislative bodies such as parliaments and municipal councils make important public policy decisions which should be built on principles of equity and inclusion. However, fundamental differences in interests, goals and values, and unwillingness to compromise of political parties may be harmful for these principles, as it substitutes particular interests for the general interest and favors the balance of power often to the detriment of the weaker ones, which leads to growing distrust of citizens. A policy-making process conducive to trust should be built on reasonable and well-informed decisions. Existing research demonstrates that social learning, defined as an individual and collective process involving the enduring acquisition or modification of cognitive constructs such as beliefs and preferences, can accelerate the development of shared understandings and mutual agreements, transform relationships among parties and, ultimately, facilitates decision-making and make them more inclusive. What are the conditions and outcomes of social learning within legislative bodies? To address this research question, a quali-quali research design was implemented in the municipal councils of the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 Directors of the municipal administrations (i.e. civil servants) and municipal council Presidents (i.e. elected officials) in 13 of the 19 municipalities of the region. The data were thematically analyzed. Second, the results were confirmed or nuanced based on four focus groups with the leaders of political parties in the municipal councils of two cities of the Region: Jette and Koekelberg. Our findings suggest that three categories of conditions account for the acquisition of knowledge and opinion changes – i.e., learning – among municipal councilors: macro-level conditions which concern the general environment in which the municipal councils operate; meso-level conditions which refer to the interpersonal relations among councilors; and micro-level conditions which concern the individual councillors. For example, the political and legal experience of the councilors, the cordiality and trust among them, as well as the partisanship to a regional or national party have emerged as important determinants of learning among municipal councilors. We conclude with a theoretical discussion and several practical suggestions to model social learning in deliberative settings and, ultimately, to make public policies more equitable and inclusive.
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Alomar, M. A., Aubin, D., Carlier, N., & Moyson, S. (2022). Social learning for effective governance principles: a quali-quali approach to deliberation within the municipal councils in Brussels. IASIA 2022 Conference : Implementing and promoting effective governance principles - leave no one, no place behind, Rabat, Morocco. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/24475