Equally, the strengthening or weakening of a
particular network of support around a claim to
expertise may also influence other networks. The
notion of ‘‘jurisdictional contests’’ as developed
by Abbott (1988) may be conceived of as conflicts
among proponents of different occupational
groups, which compete over a given area of work
to secure networks of support around their respective
claims to expertise. We examine the ways in
which Office auditors and other occupations in
government, most notably program evaluators
and general managers, struggled and cooperated
in trying to legitimize their expertise in measuring
performance.