Communities with a flexible, open leadership structure may weather energy booms better than communities with old-guard leadership cliques, according to a study of community governance in two small Texas towns. Although similar in location, ethnic composition, population, access to transportation, economic base, and importance in the county,…

A questionnaire survey of 180 Texas school district superintendents sought to determine both their perceptions of how community power structures influenced school board decisions and their techniques for communicating with their local power structure. The study analyzed four power structure types--monopolistic, multigroup noncompetitive,…