Forholdet mellom politikk og administrasjon – Hva kan vi lære fra en norsk småkommune?

Abstract

This article is about the relation between politics and administration in small political-administrative systems. It is explorative and has its empirical focus on a municipality. The primary objective is to identify some hypothesis about common challenges in the relation between politics and administration, and to gain richer knowledge about this relation. The article provides insight in the literature about administrative powers and comments on newer Nordic reform-examples, it discusses key informants stories about challenges in this relation. Based on this the article sets out some hypothesis about the relation between politics and administration in small political-administrative units. It ends with some reflections on findings and what the findings may implicate for municipality legitimacy and municipality adaption of new reforms.