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The intra-organisational politics of local authorities

The intra-organisational politics of local authorities
The intra-organisational politics of local authorities
Much of the recent literature on local government has emphasized the impact of non-local factors on local authority decision-making. This article argues that the administrative processes, power structures and conflicts of interest inside local authorities can often affect policy processes by mediating external influences and providing an internal dynamic of their own. We suggest that most of the current literature concentrates too narrowly on officer-councillor relationships and invariably emphasizes the total dominance of an officer-councillor elite. Our new approach identifies six possible arenas of policy influence within local authorities (of which the officer-councillor elite is just one) and emphasizes the dynamics of intra-organizational politics inside local authorities.
0033-3298
285-302
Stoker, Gerry
209ba619-6a65-4bc1-9235-cba0d826bfd9
Wilson, David
b183c158-f014-437e-bb70-29fb778cf003
Stoker, Gerry
209ba619-6a65-4bc1-9235-cba0d826bfd9
Wilson, David
b183c158-f014-437e-bb70-29fb778cf003

Stoker, Gerry and Wilson, David (1986) The intra-organisational politics of local authorities. Public Administration, 64 (3), 285-302. (doi:10.1111/j.1467-9299.1986.tb00623.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Much of the recent literature on local government has emphasized the impact of non-local factors on local authority decision-making. This article argues that the administrative processes, power structures and conflicts of interest inside local authorities can often affect policy processes by mediating external influences and providing an internal dynamic of their own. We suggest that most of the current literature concentrates too narrowly on officer-councillor relationships and invariably emphasizes the total dominance of an officer-councillor elite. Our new approach identifies six possible arenas of policy influence within local authorities (of which the officer-councillor elite is just one) and emphasizes the dynamics of intra-organizational politics inside local authorities.

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Published date: September 1986

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 47326
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/47326
ISSN: 0033-3298
PURE UUID: 49425677-1af3-47db-9eba-6b3aa4f02aa0
ORCID for Gerry Stoker: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8172-3395

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Date deposited: 10 Dec 2007
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:51

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Contributors

Author: Gerry Stoker ORCID iD
Author: David Wilson

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