Understanding Ordering in Local Governments (Case Study: Mashhad City Council)

This is an inquiry in agenda setting in Mashhad city council as an example of a local government in Iran. This research is undertaken in order to understand and improve agenda setting in local governments.

Phenomenological hermeneutics and hermeneutic phenomenology (constructivist grounded theory) are used in this research.

A dual construct is made for agenda setting in local governments, based on soft periphery and a hard core. The hard inner core constitutes of personal features of policy maker while soft periphery is based on circumstances. There are pre-factors and post factors that embed pre and post effects of an issue when it is set as an agenda. Pre factors include ex-ante evaluation, temporal effects and the likelihood of a bills to pass. Post factors are feedbacks, target population and the issue itself.

Agenda settingdynamic in Mashhad city council as a local government differs from existent patterns. Here, the agenda setting process has become individualized due to the lack of a decision support systems and proper feedback.