The Administrator as Trustee of the Public Interest

Recent articles in Administration & Society have probed the question of administrative discretion, with most advocating an expanded sphere of responsibility for the administrator. This article argues that calls for greater discretion are useful from a normative viewpoint, but that administrative practice is constrained by the relationship between the administrator and the governing body. A typology of discretion is offered which distinguishes between normative theory and descriptive theory, or theory-in-use. An examination is made of the literature and practice of local administration as a locus for evaluating how administrators determine their sphere of discretion in daily practice.