Normative Hierarchy and Pragmatic Egalitarianism in Municipal Policy Development

Abstract

The findings presented in this chapter are derived from fieldwork conducted in the municipal organizations of two neighboring Norwegian municipalities. Based on F. G. Bailey’s division between normative and pragmatic rules in political struggle, the chapter analyzes how local politicians and municipal administrators conceive of their roles as actors in policy processes. By juxtaposing these normative notions to empirical accounts of political struggle, the chapter demonstrates coexisting and competing notions of political legitimacy. Moreover, the cases explored demonstrate how political struggle is characterized by a balancing act between the legitimacy drawn from the hierarchal command chain of the municipal organization and horizontal policy alliances which operate within a sense of egalitarian rooted pragmatism. In the final section, the specific cultural and historical conditions embedding such seemingly contradictory notions of political legitimacy are discussed, thus allowing the emergence of cross-cutting patterns capable of transforming the hierarchical logic of the municipal organization.