ABSTRACT
The Regional Plan was an attempt to articulate, coordinate, and expand the public agenda, and through the public agenda to influence private decisions. This process is summarized in the model shown in figure 11.1. Many kinds of organizations attempt to shape the public agenda in pursuit of their values. These values are derived from a variety of sources: behavioral norms, ideolo gies, utopian constructs, professional values, client group interests, and, not least important, from a need to perpetuate the organization. The values which motivate an organization’s activities may be inherently conflicting and may shift from one period to another. The organization will have little success in imposing its values on the public agenda if it lacks power. An organization’s power may be derived from a number of sources: its wealth, its prestige, its location in some hierarchy which itself possesses power, and through identi fication with members who possess power or influence from sources outside the organization. It should be noted that the acquisition of power may itself become a motivating value of the organization.
