The recall has thus the potential to bring elected officials closer to their voters, and by enabling permanent control of the elected officials, make them more accountable and more responsive to the needs of the people they serve. It could help bridging the democratic gap engendered by often lower levels of participation in elections and motivating public participation and interest in public affairs between elections. By doing this, the recall may also help to check and prevent undue influences or interests in the communities’ affairs. From this perspective, the recall is a mechanism to shift the balance of power between the electors and the elected. Recall may also be an instrument to settle conflicts between mayors and local councils, if both are directly elected and prove unable to co-operate.