Governing concept or political buzzword? Contested perceptions of local control

• Published date: 01 May 2023
• Author: Michael R. Ford
• Date: 01 May 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2852

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Governing concept or political buzzword? Contested

perceptions of local control

Michael R. Ford

Department of Public Administration,

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Oshkosh,

Wisconsin, USA

Correspondence

Michael R. Ford, University of Wisconsin

Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Blvd, Oshkosh WI, USA.

Email: fordm@uwosh.edu

This article uses a perceptions-based framework to study how local governing actors

define local control, and, to identify the determinants of definition alignment among

local officials. A mix of survey and administrative data from Wisconsin officials is

used to test nine hypotheses. The results indicate there is wide variation in how local

government leaders define local control, and that alignment on the concept's mean-

ing is predicted by ideology, perceived erosion of local control, and positional charac-

teristics. The study concludes that local governments should incorporate a working

definition of local control in planning and on-boarding processes in order to provide

governing relevance to the concept.

KEYWORDS

local control, local government, small group dynamics

1|INTRODUCTION

Many prominent concepts in Public Administration (PA) are ambigu-

ous and contested. Mulgan (2000), for example, describes account-

ability as “chameleon-like”in that its meaning and application are

often a function of the context in which it is being applied (555). For

example, holding a school district accountable for performance is

different than holding an elected official accountable for performance.

Performance measurement is a prominent subfield in PA precisely

because conceptualizing and operationalizing effectiveness is difficult

in public organizations that generally do not operate with a clear profit

motive (Julnes & Holzer, 2001; Olvera & Avellaneda, 2017; Poister &

Streib, 1999). The focus of this paper, local control, is similarly

difficult to understand outside its specific context and application

(Nickels, 2016; Perlman, 2016).

In this article I draw on the public and nonprofit governance liter-

ature, specifically using Ford and Ihrke's (2019) perception gover-

nance framework to determine how local government leaders define

local control, identify areas in which there is disagreement regarding

the concept, and identify factors influencing whether local govern-

ment leaders believe state and local actors define local control in the

same manner. The base premise is that for the concept of local control

to have practical meaning in local government, the applied definition

of those exercising local control must be understood. For example, if

two members of a governing board seek to lobby the state for more

local control of government, they first must agree what local control

means. Similarly, if the state government is going to pass legislation to

empower local governments, they must be in agreement with local

government as to what local control actually means. Absent that defi-

nition alignment, multiple actors will be working at cross-purposes

despite pursuing what sounds like a common goal.

Thus, my analysis tests for definition alignment within govern-

ment, and across governments. The presumption is not that a single

unifying definition of local control must exist, or even can exist. But as

discussed in Ford and Ihrke's (2019) perception governance frame-

work, which will be described in detail, definition alignment within

specific governing contexts is a prerequisite for improved governance

performance. Further, I argue that agreement on the meaning of core

concepts in PA, like local control, is as operationally important as the

concepts themselves. Hence, this article relies on survey data regard-

ing governing leaders' perceptions of local control. Specifically, I seek

to answer the research question: What factors predict perceived defi-

nition alignment regarding local control? I explore the research ques-

tion using a sample of local government officials in the U.S. state of

Wisconsin.

The paper proceeds as follows. First I present a literature review

on local control and federalism. A literature review on local control,

federalism, and decentralization follws. Next I detail Ford and Ihrke's

Received: 30 December 2021 Revised: 15 November 2022 Accepted: 8 February 2023

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2852

J Public Affairs. 2023;23:e2852. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of12

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2852