Local Government Administrators

Abstract

Using qualitative data gathered from interviews with municipal department heads in a random sample of South Carolina municipalities, this article presents evidence that local administrators fail to characterize themselves as participants in political processes. When faced with political issues or conflicts, they preferred to fall back on professional standards or hierarchical deference. This contrasts with Barth's (1991, 1993) study of federal administrators that supported Rohr's (1986) "balance wheel" model of administrators. Local government administrators reflected more of a corporate than apolitical model, which, in turn, harks back to the ideology of Wilsonian, progressive reform literature. This suggests that local administrators practice in an environment significantly different from that of their federal and state counterparts, and different from that described in generic public administration literature. These findings warrant the attention of public administration researchers and teachers.