Safety First ― How Local Processes of Securitization Have Affected the Position and Role of Dutch Mayors

This book describes a four-year research project focusing on Dutch mayors in public safety governance. Because mayors are responsible for providing order and safety in local society, all eyes generally turn to them when a new safety problem arises in Dutch society, and these have affected the position and role of Dutch mayors profoundly. This research project combines local and national studies on the position and role of Dutch mayors in local safety governance in the Netherlands between the years 1990 and 2010. The overall finding is that an ever growing trend of securitizing local issues has fostered an expansion of the mayor's formal position, as well as his practical actions in public safety governance.