Explaining and Justifying Authoritative Decisions : Siting Controversial Facilities for the Homeless in Rotterdam

This paper analyses the ways in which local executive leaders rendered account for the decisions taken on where to locate 19 controversial facilities for the homeless in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. Despite the non-participatory nature of the decision-making process, executive leaders acquired a remarkable level of authority for their decisions. The analysis suggests that the accountability strategies employed by local executive leaders contributed substantially to this success. Specific ways of rendering account for the decisions made over locations enabled local executives to develop the political repertoires necessary to make those authoritative decisions that were deemed indispensable by them