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Understanding Success in Local Government Representation on Auckland Council Through the Diverse Voices of Elected Local Board Members

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Thesis(6.87 MB)

Date

2024

Authors

Brown, Shirin Desai

Supervisor

Ryan, Irene
Devadas, Vijay
Molineaux, Julienne

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Doctor of Philosophy

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Volume Title

Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Local boards provide the most localised form of government within Auckland Council, the biggest unitary authority in Australasia, representing an ethnically diverse and growing population of about 1.6 million people. This study explores the lived experience of local board members to understand their perspective of success in the role. The experiences of visible minority local board members are investigated alongside those of older, white, New Zealand Europeans, who have, until recently, been numerically dominant in local board representation in the Auckland region. Four questions frame the research: 1) How is success is understood by those who stand and are then elected to local boards? 2) How do key dimensions of difference (ethnicity, gender, age) affect individual local board member perceptions of success in the role? 3) What factors do elected members perceive as contributing to their success on local boards? 4) How can local board members be supported to feel more successful in their role? These questions are considered at three intersecting levels: the micro-level of individual behaviour and interpersonal relationships; the meso-level structures at the organisational level; the macro-level socio-political context and legislative directives. To do so, the study is framed within a critical realist paradigm and utilises a critical diversity lens and an intersectionally sensitive approach. Methodologically, the research sits within the tradition of organisational ethnography as it seeks to explore the everyday complexities of 21 local board representatives within Auckland Council in the 2016 – 2019 term. The positionality of the researcher as an elected local board member is melded into the study allowing for deeper questioning and analysis than might be possible otherwise. The contribution of the research is four-fold. First, the focus is on the experiences of local board members and their understanding of success in a context where little research has been done on local government generally, less on the lived experience of representatives, and almost nothing is available on this community-based governance role. Second, the visible minority experience, is explored alongside the majority board member experience thus providing a more nuanced exploration of any diversity effects. Third, methodologically, the research brings a multi-layered understanding of the complexities of local government representation. Fourthly negative behaviour is explored to understand the dynamics of political bullying. The study also provides insights into how individuals and groups resist, disrupt, or condone the limitations of a dual governance model where authority is shared between elected representatives and an employed bureaucracy. This includes what political astuteness means for local body elected members, how these skills can be improved to facilitate advocacy and decision-making on behalf of communities. At the same time the challenges of the shared governance model operating within Auckland Council are explored with recommendations for how Auckland Council could support a more welcoming working environment.

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Permanent link

http://hdl.handle.net/10292/17419

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Doctoral Theses