Demands, Constraints, and Choices of Nordic Municipal CEOs: A Conceptual Framework

This chapter outlines the basic theoretical approaches of the book, which will be used to frame the analyses in the forthcoming chapters. Our approach is rooted in theories of organizations, leadership, and public administration. Municipalities are variously seen as local political institutions, organizations, part of the welfare state, and local communities responsible for delivering services within a territory, with varying regional dynamics. Municipal CEOs (MCEOs) are seen as both public servants and leaders operating within a governance system influenced by several, often competing institutional logics, causing tensions, paradoxes, and occasional dilemmas for the leadership of MCEOs (MCEOs operate in the area between politics and administration). From this perspective, seven related contextual conditions of importance to the work of MCEOs are outlined in the introduction, and their implications are discussed in the remainder of the chapter. The seven contextual conditions and their relation to the MCEO position are integrated into an adapted version of the demands–constraints–choices model. This model is heuristic in nature and facilitates the study of the dynamics and stability that apply to Nordic MCEOs in relation to our research questions.