L'institutionnalisation de la région comme apprentissage des rôles. Le cas des conseillers régionaux

Abstract

The Institutionalization of the «Région» as Apprenticeship of a Political Role. The Case of the «Conseillers régionaux». Olivier Nay [18-46]. The obervation of the roles assumed by the regional political representatives helps us to understand the processes by which a political institution such as the «Région» emerges in France. The article argues that the roles played by regional politicians are shaped to a great extent by the conditions of their intervention on subregional political territories. In particular, it is suggested that regional representatives involve themselves in the action by taking on a role as a mediator. This action consists in assuming continuous intercession between groups of actors who do not usually interact. Nevertheless, because the mediating activity obliges the representatives to intervene simultaneously in different political arenas, it leads them to confront contradictory demands that they are not always able to reconcile.