Challenges in Enhancing Responsiveness in Neighborhood Governance

Keywords

neighborhood councils; bureaucratic responsiveness

Abstract

When numerous stakeholders, constituencies, and service requests are competing for limited city agency resources, administrators need to decide to whom and how to be responsive. A review of literature on bureaucratic responsiveness suggests five possible determining factors for agencies facing conflicting demands: (a) organizational culture, (b) organizational leadership, (c) organizational rules and structure, (d) dependency on a stakeholder making a demand, and (e) the extent of external control placed on the agency. Based on an action research study of City of Los Angeles neighborhood councils and departments, this article suggests areas for future research on these and other possible influences on responsiveness in a collaborative context. Exploratory findings suggest that each factor may be of some importance, but future research is necessary.

Date Created

January 2007

https://works.bepress.com/thomasbryer/9/download/

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