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The Early Years in the Life Cycle of City Councils: a Downsian Analysis

Department of Political Science, Brown University, Providence, U.S.A

Anthony Downs argues that most government bureaus follow an eight stage developmental life cycle including such steps as: (1) birth of the agency, (2) early dominance by 'advocates' or 'zealots', (3) a struggle for autonomy followed by (4) a struggle for support, (5) rapid growth, and (6) a 'decelerator effect' ending in (7) a 'crisis of continuity' and rarely — (8) death. The present article applies Downs' life cycle explanation of bureaucratic agency behaviour to an elected public body and argues that elected bodies exhibit characteristics similar to nonelected and long-term bureaucratic organisations.

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