Fiscal Consolidation in German and Greek Municipalities: The Interplay of Leadership and Legitimacy

This article assesses the interplay between different leadership styles and three dimensions of legitimacy (input-, throughput- and output-legitimacy). In four German and six Greek cities, we investigate the role of mayors and treasurers in fiscal consolidation policy. We can explain different outcomes of fiscal policy with different institutional structures between the two countries, but we found also remarkable differences within the countries, especially in Greek municipalities, which are related to different leadership styles. However, we also show that different leadership styles can result in sufficient output-legitimacy of fiscal policies.