Bureaucratic Politics: The View from Below

Abstract

From a broad ethnographic study of political activities among lower participants, the authors formulate a model of politics from below that contrasts with Graham Allison's model of bureaucratic politics among those at the top. They find that, because of their relatively less powerful hierarchical positions, lower participants engage in political activities that are primarily about the pursuit of identity rather than specific organizational outcomes. Because these are by their very nature out-of-bounds activities, they often prove highly improvisational. The authors conclude that these activities are not irrational, but they are embedded in local rationalities that admittedly countervail executives' intentions. These local rationalities reflect the variety of professional and subprofessional norms, conflicting processes, and multiple and conflicting goals that pervade public organizations.

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