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Professionalism and Political Conflict: A Developmental Model*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Frederick Wirt
Frederick Wirt
Affiliation:
Department of Political ScienceUniversity of Illinois-Champaign
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Abstract

This essay is an introduction to a little studied aspect of a world-wide phenomenon, the political environment of the professions. In the absence of any model of political interactions between the environment and professions, a deductive developmental model is set out below, detailing the stages of conflict between the professionals and the non-profesionals, or ‘laity’, whom they serve. Its evidence is adduced from primarily the United States, but also from elsewhere in the English-speaking world; its application should be even wider. A concluding section briefly suggests explanatory propositions for this conflict. Throughout, the focus is not upon professionals as such, but upon (a) the potential for conflict which lies in the grant of autonomy given them by the society, and (b) the current crisis when the autonomy of even the most powerful profession is under challenge.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , February 1981 , pp. 61 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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