This article attempts to develop a framework for analyzing the politics of school organizations. After examining relevant literature, the authors maintain that a Weberian perspective (instead of Marxian or neo-Machiavellian perspectives) is appropriate for the examination of organizational politics. The concept of the "logic of action" (the implicit relationship between means and goals that is assumed by organizational actors) is developed as the focal point of organizational politics. It is further argued that the interest group is the appropriate unit of analysis in organizational politics. The micro- and macro perspectives are reexamined in that light, with specific references to interest groups and the strategies they pursue in school organizations. The authors conclude by arguing that to succeed, political analyses of school organizations must synthesize micro- and macroapproaches.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aiken, M. , & Bacharach, S. (1978). The urban system, politics, and bureaucratic structure: A comparative analysis of 44 local governments in Belgium. In L. Karpik (Ed.), Organization and environment (pp. 199-252). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
2.
Aron, R. (1967). Main currents in sociological thought (Vols. 1-2). New York: Basic Books.
3.
Bacharach, S. (1978). Morphologie et processus: Une critique de la recherche organisationnelle contemporaine.Sociologie du Travail, 20(2), 153-173.
4.
Bacharach, S. (1989). Organizational theories: Some criteria for evaluation.Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 496-515.
5.
Bacharach, S. (Ed.). (1990). Education reform: Making sense of it all. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
6.
Bacharach, S. , & Conley, S. (1989). Uncertainty and decisionmaking in teaching: Implications for managing line professionals. In T. Sergiovanni & J. Moore (Eds.), Schooling for tomorrow: Directing reforms to issues that count (pp. 312-329). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
7.
Bacharach, S. , & Lawler, E. (1979). Power-dependence and the subjective utility of influence.Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 32(2), 196-204.
8.
Bacharach, S. , & Lawler, E. (1980). Power and politics in organizations: The social psychology of conflict, coalitions, and bargaining. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
9.
Bacharach, S. , &Lawler, E. (1981). Bargaining: Power, tactics, and outcomes. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
10.
Bacharach, S. , Masters, W., & Mundell, B. (1993). Institutional theory and the politics of institutionalization: The constructs of school reform (Working paper). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
11.
Bacharach, S. , & Mitchell, S. (1987). The generation of practical theory: Schools as political organizations. In J. Lorsch (Ed.), Handbook of organizational behavior (pp. 405-419). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
12.
Bacharach, S. , & Shedd, J. (1989). Power and empowerment: The constraining myths and emerging structures of teacher unionism in an age of reform. In J. Hannaway & R. Crowson (Eds.), The politics of reforming school administration: The 1988 yearbook of the politics of education association (pp. 139-160). New York: Falmer.
13.
Bacharach, S. , & Shedd, J. (1993). Logics of action and transaction in labor-management relations (Workdng paper). Ithaca, NYCornell University.
14.
Ball, S. (1987). The micro-politics of the school: Toward a theory of school organization. New York: Methuen.
15.
Bamard, C. (1938). Functions of the executive. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
16.
Bidwell, C. (1965). The school as a formal organization. In J. March (Ed.), Handbook of organizations (pp. 972-1022). Chicago: Rand McNally.
17.
Bidwell, C. (1992). Toward improved knowledge and policy on urban education. In J. Cibulka, R. Reed, & K. Wong (Eds.), The politics of urban education in the United States (pp. 193-199). Washington, DC: Falmer.
18.
Bidwell, C. , & Kasarda, J. (1975). School district organization and student achievement.American Sociological Review, 40, 55-70.
19.
Blase, J. (Ed.). (1991). The politics of life in schools: Power, conflict, and cooperation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
20.
Braverman, H. (1974). Labor and monopoly capitalism. New York: Monthly Review Press.
21.
Burawoy, M. (1979). Manufacturing consent: Changes in the labor process under monopoly capitalism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
22.
Cibulka, J. , Reed, R., & Wong, K. (Eds.). (1992). The politics of urban education in the United States. Washington, DC: Falmer.
23.
Colton, D. , & Uchitelle, S. (1992). Urban school desegregation: From race to resources. In J. CibuLka, R. Reed, & K. Wong (Eds.), The politics of urban education in the United States (pp. 137-148). Washington, DC: Falmer.
24.
Crozier, M. (1964). The bureaucratic phenomenon. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
25.
Crozier, M. , & Friedberg, E. (1980). Actors and systems: The politics of collective action. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
26.
Cuban, L. (1990). Why do some reforms persist? In S. Bacharach (Ed.), Education reform: Making sense of it all (pp. 135-140). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
27.
Cusick, P. (Ed.). (1987). Organizational culture and schools.Educational Administration Quarterly, 23(4), 1-120.
28.
DahI, R. (1961). Who governs?New Haven, CI: Yale University Press.
29.
Dahrendorf, R. (1959). Class and class conflict in industrial society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
30.
Deal, T. (1990). Refraining reform.Educational Leadership, 47, 6-12.
31.
Deal, T. , & Kennedy, A. (1984). Corporate cultures: The rites and rituals of corporate life. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
32.
Deleuze, G. , & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaux: Capitalism and schizophrenia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
33.
DiMaggio, P. (1988). Interest and agency in institutional theory. In L. Zucker (Ed.), Institutional patterns and organizations: Culture and environment(pp. 3-21). Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
34.
DiMaggio, P. , & Powell, W. (Eds.). (1991). The new institutionalism in organizational analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
35.
Dobbin, F. R. , Edelnan, L., Meyer, J. W., Scott, W. R., & Swidler, A. (1988). The expansion of due process in organizations. In L. Zucker (Ed.), Institutional patterns and organizations: Culture and environment (pp. 71-98). Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
36.
Edelman, M. (1964). The symbolic uses of politics. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
37.
Edwards, R. (1979). Contested terrain. New York: Basic Books.
38.
Feldman, J. , & Kanter, H. (1965). Organizational decision making. In J. March (Ed.), Handbook of organizations (pp. 614-649). Chicago: Rand McNally.
39.
Gamson, W. (1968). Power and discontent. Homewood, IL: Dorsey.
40.
Goffman, E. (1969). Strategic interaction. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
41.
Gross, N. , Mason, W., & McEachern, A. (1958). Explorations in role analysis: Studies of the school superintendency role. New York: Wiley.
42.
Herrington, C. , & Orland, M. (1992). Politics and federal aid to urban school systems: The case of Chapter One. In J. Cibulka, R. Reed, & K. Wong (Eds.), The politics of urban education in the United States (pp. 167-180). Washington, DC: Falmer.
43.
Hoyle, E. (1986). The politics of school management. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
44.
Hunter, F. (1953). Community power structure. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
45.
Karpik, L. (1972a). Sociologie, economie politique, et buts des organisations de production.Revue Francaise de Sociologie, 13, 299-324.
46.
Karpik, L. (1972b). Les politiques et les logiques d'action de la grande enterprise industrielle.Sociologie du Travail, 13, 82-105.
47.
Karpik, L. (1978). Organizations, institutions, and history. In L. Karpik (Ed.), Organization and environment: Theory, issues, and reality (pp. 15-68). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
48.
King, R. , & McGuire,C. (1992). Political and financial support for school-based and child-centered reforms. In J. Cibulka, R. Reed, & K. Wong (Eds.), The politics of urban education in the United States (pp. 123-136). Washington, DC: Falmer.
49.
Lasswell, H. (1930). Psychopathology and politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
50.
Lasswell, H. (1948). Power and personality. New York: Norton.
51.
Marshall, C. , & Scribner, J. (Eds.). (1991). The micropolitics of education. Education and Urban Society (Special issue), 23, 4.
52.
Meyer, J. , & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony.American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340-363.
53.
Meyer, J. W. , Scott, W. R., & Deal, T. E. (1981). Institutional and technical sources of organizational structure. In H. D. Stein (Ed.), Organization and the human services (pp. 151-178). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
54.
Michels, R. (1962). Political parties (E. Paul & C. Paul, Trans.). New York: Free Press. (Original work published 1915)
55.
Mintzberg, H. (1983). Power in and around organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
56.
Miron, L. , First, P., & Wimpelberg, R. (1992). Equity, adequacy, and educational need: The courts and urban school finance. In J. Cibulka, R. Reed, & K. Wong (Eds.), The politics of urban education in the United States (pp. 181-192). Washington, DC: Falmer.
57.
Olson, M. (1965). The logic of collective action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
58.
Perrow, C. (1970). Organizational analyses: A sociological view. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
59.
Peterson, P. (1976). School politics, Chicago style. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
60.
Pettigrew, A. (1973). The politics of organizational decision-making. London: Tavistock.
61.
Pfeffer, J. (1981). Power in organizations. Marshfield, MA: Pitman.
62.
Scott, W. , & Meyer, J. (1991). The organization of societal sectors: Propositions and early evidence. In W. W. Powell & P. J. DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 108-140). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
63.
Selznick, P. (1949). TVA and the grass roots. Berkeley: University of Califomia Press.
64.
Shedd, J. , & Bacharach, S. (1991). Tangled hierarchies: Teachers as professionals and the management of schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
65.
Shils, E. (1975). Center and periphery: Essays in macro sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
66.
Strauss, A. (1978). Negotiations: Varieties, contexts, processes, and social order. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
67.
Tannenbaum, A. , Kavcic, B., Rosner, M., Vianello, M., & Weisner, G. (1974). Hierarchy in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
68.
Tedeschi, J. , Schlenker, B., & Bonoma, T. (1973). Conflict, power, and games. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.
69.
Thomas, G. , & Meyer, J. (1984). The expansion of the state.Annual Review of Sociology, 10, 461-482.
70.
Thompson, J. (1967). Action in organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill.
71.
Touraine, A. (1971). The post-industrial society. New York: Random House.
72.
Weber, M. (1947). The theory of social and economic organizations (A. Henderson, Trans.; T. Parsons, Ed.). New York: Free Press.
73.
Weick, K. (1976). Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems.Administrative Science Quarterly, 21, 1-19.
74.
Williamson, O. (1975). Markets and hierarchies: Analysis and antitrust implications. New York: Free Press.
75.
Wirt, F. , & Kirst, M. (1982). Schools in conflict. Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.
76.
Wolcott, H. (1973). The man in the principal's office: An ethnography. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
77.
Wong, K. (1992). The politics of urban education as a field of study: An interpretive analysis. In J. Cibulka, R. Reed, & K. Wong (Eds.), The politics of urban education in the United States. Washington, DC: Falmer.
78.
Zucker, L. (Ed.). (1988). Institutional patterns and organizations: Culture and environment. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
