This article is based on a definition of political and civil servant leadership as a behavioral steering style towards the realization of organizational goals. By means of a grounded theory methodology we get some insights in the characteristics and the interaction between both leadership styles in Flemish cities. This two-faced leadership is depicted by means of a tandem metaphor. First, we identify the relevant dimensions to describe the leadership tandem. It becomes apparent that political leadership styles differ greatly both in time and in scope. Civil servant leadership is generally characterized by a weak but presumably growing impact. This combination results in considerable leadership tensions, which is reinforced by several contingency factors: i.e. the influence of the dominant alderman model, the financial situation, the number of staff, the tendency to professionalize, the dominant political and civil servant culture and the structure of central government (e.g. on a Flemish, Belgian and European level).

According to our analysis of the campaign expenses declared by the Flemish candidates for the 2003 federal and the 2004 regional elections candidates of the three traditional parties spend, on average, about 70 à 80% of what they are allowed to. The impact of the spending limit is much smaller for the other parties, the candidates of which spend only about 50% of what they are allowed to. Incumbents and candidates who are also mayor in a municipality tend to spend more. The background characteristics of the candidates have almost no effect on the expenditures. There is only a small effect of gender, in the sense that women candidates spend less. On average, one third of the individual campaign expenditures is financed by the individual candidates, and two thirds by the party. However, in the liberal party the contribution of the party is substantially lower (35 à 40% on average), while it is higher (80% on average) in the socialist party as well as for female candidates