Representations of democracy put to the test in metropolitan spaces: The ambivalent adherence of intercommunal political staff to the scalar division of political work

The rise of metropolises in the French administrative landscape has led to criticism of the democratic foundations of these new institutions. This article analyzes the perceptions of metropolitan political personnel: How do they perceive this recurring criticism and, more broadly, how do they envisage democracy working on a metropolitan scale? The article combines quantitative and qualitative data to show the acceptance of a functional, scalar separation of power: at each scale (the town and the metropolis), the nature of the political work and the partners change. These representations contrast with the conclusions of an abundant scientific literature evoking an interlocking of the scales.