ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role and function of the executive organs of local government and on their position in the "ecology of games". Hungary where the finance committee functions partly as a board, the executive functions are divided between the mayor, the board and the chief administrative officer. The citizens' perceptions of power in the community did not deviate radically from those of the mayors and administrative officials, but among the executive organs they tended to give more weight to the mayors than was given by the mayors and the administrative officers. The chapter shows that the system capacity has been broken down into three components: power, leadership, and management. Management is about implementing the decisions that result from the deliberations of the elected bodies. Logically, management could be expected to be an easier task if decision-making was under effective leadership and resulted in coherent guidelines for implementation.
