Navigating the space between politics and administration: The informal practices of Ontario school board trustees

Abstract

Through interviews with 25 school board trustees in Ontario, this article contributes to the growing literature that explores the politics-administration dichotomy at the local government level in Canada. While existing literature is oriented from the perspective of the local government administrator, we examine the relations between local government politicians and administrators from the orientation of the former to determine how they navigate the dichotomy, particularly in a context where it is arguably more contested. We identify six informal practices trustees adopt in representing constituents and confronting tensions inherent in their role, namely: navigating, influencing, listening, translating, informing, and uploading.