Globalization, Laws or Mayors? A Model of Analysis for Local Government Internationalization Policies

In the face of current globalization, local governments have responded with an increasing process of internationalization. The most common explanations for this phenomenon come from International Relations and International Law theories and range from contributing to local economic development and improving social services to becoming involved in international policies. However, an alternative and understudied explanation for the internationalization of local governments is the leadership mayors, either based on the institutional model or on their personal characteristics. Thus, based on the theoretical models of International Relations, International Law, and mayors' leadership, and based on a theoretical review, it is shown that the development of local government internationalization policies cannot be analyzed in its full dimension without considering the mayor's leadership styles. The main theoretical contribution of this article is to conceive the mayor's leadership as a robust explanation for the development of internationalization policies by local governments, distancing itself from the traditional and not very explanatory theoretical lines of the phenomenon: globalization and the institutional system.