| Abstract: | This article examines relationships between state agencies andlocal communities, using survey and interview data from a casestudy of the Iowa Department of Transportation. It argues thatthese relationships often parallel the agency-clientele relationshipsobserved by public administration scholars. The agency derivessimilar benefits from local government support as from privateclientele support, namely, an independent power base that helpsto preserve its flow of resources and its administrative autonomy.IDOT possesses formidable political resources in the breadthand intensity of its clientele, but the key to IDOT's successis the skillful utilization of those resources through an administrativestrategy stressing the development of widely accepted technicaldecision-criteria and an administrative style emphasizing accessibility,responsiveness, and flexibility. A survey of mayors and localbusiness leaders shows that this strategy has generated widespreadpositive perceptions of the department among these clientelegroups. |
