01130pab a2200121 454500008003600000100003300036245011500069520072100184650002100905650002200926650002700948773003300975180718b   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aChristofilopoulou, Paraskeuy  aProfessionalism and public policy making in Greece: the influence of engineers in the local government reforms  aThe influence of professionals in the formulation of public policies has been an issue of scientific research in the past decade. In this article we deal with a less examined aspect of this issue. Professional influence is analysed in the context of Greek public policy, where the intensely centralized administration is dominated by the demands of political clientelism. Focusing on the case of the influence of engineers in local government reform between 1974 and 1989, the article reveals the role of professionalism in the hesitant decentralization of functions and resources to local authorities and the initiation of institutions that have allowed the birth and development of new organizations at the central  a Professionalism  a Local Government  aPublic Policy - Greece  aPublic Administration (U.K.)