بررسي جامعه شناسي عوامل كارايي شوراهاي اسلامي شهر

The Sociological Study of Performance in Islamic City-Councils

Democratic urban management has a significant role in reducing urban problems such as poverty, informal settlement and pollution. Social capital theory is usually used for studying performance in local governments. But using predefined theories may neglect some important factors such as subjective meaning and the role of actors in the making of social reality especially in the context of developing countries. This paper studies the Iranian city-councils using grounded theory approach. The researchers interviewed 75 informants from councilors and mayors of 13 cities. Data analysis and theoretical model showed that centralized administration system and ambiguous laws are main factors contributing to "Lack of Institutionalization" of councils, and which limit their authority. "Councilʹs membersʹ education" and "quality of state managersʹ attitudes create the context that affects the phenomenon. The intervening conditions are "internal and external group relations", "municipalities financial and human resources", "local attachments", "experiences", and "education". Under the conditions described above, councilors adopt two strategies: "institutionalism" and "protectionism".These strategies, obviously,are followed by consequences. These consequences are "anxious", "participation rejection", "hopefulness", and "efficiency". Social capital theory was verified under the studyʹs findings. Although social capital is useful in explaining the performance, but the lack of institutionalism is considered to be more important for the council performance in its Iranian context.