environment and organizational structure, he argues, "when incorporating strategic choice in a theory of organization, one is recognizing the operations of an essentially political process in which constraints and opportunities are functions of the power exercised by decision-makers in the light of ideological values." 11 Data collected from Metro City Legal Services provide empirical support for Child's hypothesis linking ideology with strategic choice. MCLS staff chose to ally with low-income groups sharing their preference for an aggressive and activist program.
Administrators and staff in the other four programs are more constrained than MCLS in their choices because they are embedded in monolithic environments. While ideology permits three programs to engage in some law reform activity despite opposition by external organizations, they are unable to engage in a substantial amount. To summarize, this study suggests that distinguishing between types of environments, whether pluralistic or monolithic, is crucial for understanding organizational activity. The explanatory importance of attitudes, organizational features, and context, as well as the manner in which they interact is conditioned by the nature of the agency's interorganizational environment.
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