Politics and International Affairs Beyond Bureaucratic Boundaries: A Case Study in Human Systems Dynamics

Introduction: A Tale of Two Counties Many years ago, in my first job in county government, I staffed a taskforce charged to transform a small urban county from a set of independently elected row officers to a modern organization with a professional manager reporting to a policy board. Trained as a socio-cultural anthropologist, I approached the county as a small community, using the methods and tools I had been taught. I looked for formal and informal political structures, social networks, communication patterns, organizational culture or worldview and formal and informal norms and values. I studied written reports, observed and participated in many meetings and other events, conducted ethnographic interviews, and generated a huge list of suggestions. My extensive report was generally ignored. The row officers remained in place.