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This conceptual article investigates the critical role of street-level bureaucrats (SLB) as potential "eliminators" of dysfunctional policies and drivers of digital change in the public sector. Working on the front lines of government, they have a distinctive viewpoint that allows them to challenge persistent ineffective policies. The present work introduces a framework that illustrates the roles SLBs could assume within the context of the ongoing digitalization reform of German public administration. It explores the conditions under which public servants are likely to be reflexive about existing practices—including reform practices—and can promote real innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Drawing on attentional resource allocation theory and transaction cost theory, this study links street-level bureaucrats' problem-solving organizational citizenship behaviors with perceived administrative burden. Based on 28 in-depth interviews and 657 survey responses from street-level bureaucrats involved in China's Targeted Poverty Alleviation Policy during 2019 and 2020, the study found positive relationships between problem-solving organizational citizenship behaviors, resource deficiency, bureaucratic control, and perceived administrative burden. Policymakers should be cautious when using control tools and avoid exploiting street-level bureaucrats' commitment and compassion for clients to ensure effectively policy implementation and reduce administrative burdens on dedicated public servants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Ghana introduced a free maternal healthcare policy within its National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2008 to remove financial barriers to accessing maternal health services. Despite this policy, evidence suggests that women incur substantial out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for maternal health care. This study explores the underlying reasons for these persistent out-of-pocket payments within the context of Ghana’s free maternal healthcare policy. Methods Cross-sectional qualitative data were collected through interviews with a purposive sample of 14 mothers and 8 healthcare providers/administrators in two regions of Ghana between May and September 2022. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and imported into the NVivo 14.0 software for analysis. An iteratively developed codebook guided the coding process. Our thematic data analysis followed the Attride-Sterling framework for network analysis, identifying basic, organising themes and global themes. Results We found that health systems and demand-side factors are responsible for the persistence of OOP payments despite the existence of the free maternal healthcare policy in Ghana. Reasons for these payments arose from health systems factors, particularly, NHIS structural issues – delayed and insufficient reimbursements, inadequate NHIS benefit coverage, stockouts and supply chain challenges and demand-side factors – mothers’ lack of education about the NHIS benefit package, and passing of cost onto patients. Due to structural and system level challenges, healthcare providers, exercising their street-level bureaucratic power, have partly repackaged the policy, enabling the persistence of out-of-pocket payments for maternal healthcare. Conclusions Urgent measures are required to address the structural and administrative issues confronting Ghana’s free maternal health policy; otherwise, Ghana may not achieve the sustainable development goals targets on maternal and child health.

Artikkelen undersøker hvordan Nav-veilederes blikk på brukerne og deres problemer formes av de institusjonelle og organisatoriske rammene de jobber under. Datamaterialet består av seks fokusgruppeintervjuer med to ulike grupper Nav-veiledere. Begge gruppene jobber med innvandrede brukere med sammensatte utfordringer i møte med arbeidslivet, men under svært ulike arbeidsbetingelser. Mens den første gruppen jobber med mange brukere, høyt tidspress og tydelig arbeidsretting av tjenestene, har den andre gruppen færre brukere, mer tid til oppfølging og et bredere mandat. Analysene viser hvordan den første gruppen veiledere i liten grad har tid til å utforske årsakene til brukeres manglende oppmøte, samarbeid eller norskferdigheter. De ser ofte brukerne som umotiverte eller motvillige: Brukerne er problemet, og de må endre seg før de kan dra nytte av Navs tjenestetilbud. Den andre gruppen veiledere kan i større grad ta tak i de aktuelle problemstillingene brukerne opplever, og utforske hvordan omstendigheter og livssituasjon gir brukerne problemer. Disse er mer tilbøyelige til å beskrive brukernes problemer som noe de har – og dermed noe Nav kan hjelpe dem med å løse. Analysene illustrerer hvordan arbeidsbetingelsene innad i Nav påvirker ikke bare hvordan veiledere avdekker, fortolker og håndterer innvandrede brukeres utfordringer og problemer, men også hvordan dette får konsekvenser for tjenestetilbudet.

The article presents a systematic review of scholarly articles (n = 168) focused on digital discretion—how digital technologies affect the discretionary autonomy of street‐level bureaucrats. Two analytical tasks are performed concerning how digital transformation has affected (1) the relations between top‐down governing and the work of street‐level bureaucrats and (2) street‐level bureaucrats in the encounter with individuals. The documentation shows an expanding research area, and most articles showcase various subjectification effects when street‐level bureaucrats become screen‐ or system‐level bureaucrats. Street‐level bureaucrats are under increasing pressure from changing political rationalities consisting of streams of scientific knowledge, societal discourses, and the need for changes in governmental practices. The transformation carries political rationalities that fundamentally reshape value structures, organizing, and working methods of street‐level work. Still, the research area needs further development and consolidation. The reviewed research analyzes policies without considering the political content developed during policy initiation, formulation, and decision‐making. Instead, the research is characterized by a short‐sighted analytical perspective on how individual street‐level bureaucrats handle a changing technological development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ghana introduced a free maternal healthcare policy within its National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2008 to remove financial barriers to accessing maternal health services. Despite this policy, evidence suggests that women incur substantial out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for maternal health care. This study explores the underlying reasons for these persistent out-of-pocket payments within the context of Ghana's free maternal healthcare policy. Methods: Cross-sectional qualitative data were collected through interviews with a purposive sample of 14 mothers and 8 healthcare providers/administrators in two regions of Ghana between May and September 2022. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and imported into the NVivo 14.0 software for analysis. An iteratively developed codebook guided the coding process. Our thematic data analysis followed the Attride-Sterling framework for network analysis, identifying basic, organising themes and global themes. Results: We found that health systems and demand-side factors are responsible for the persistence of OOP payments despite the existence of the free maternal healthcare policy in Ghana. Reasons for these payments arose from health systems factors, particularly, NHIS structural issues – delayed and insufficient reimbursements, inadequate NHIS benefit coverage, stockouts and supply chain challenges and demand-side factors – mothers' lack of education about the NHIS benefit package, and passing of cost onto patients. Due to structural and system level challenges, healthcare providers, exercising their street-level bureaucratic power, have partly repackaged the policy, enabling the persistence of out-of-pocket payments for maternal healthcare. Conclusions: Urgent measures are required to address the structural and administrative issues confronting Ghana's free maternal health policy; otherwise, Ghana may not achieve the sustainable development goals targets on maternal and child health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of constraining services and support within public home care, this contribution analyses how older adults and home care workers experience and navigate administrative burdens. Relying on focus groups, interviews, and a survey conducted in the province of Québec (Canada), we demonstrate that older adults face an increasing number of administrative burdens designed to alter, delay, and restrict access to public services while homecare workers experience a loss of discretion in their practice due to the introduction of administrative requirements with dubious purposes. As such, administrative burdens play a vital role in the hidden politics of the welfare state and contribute to foster cynicism and a loss of faith in essential public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the topic of the complexity of working with young people from a migrant background who use public, social and educational services. This topic was faced through the analysis of the main results of a research, through interviews to managers, psychologists and educators of public bodies and the Third sector who are engaged in this field. From the interviews, it emerges on the one hand the ability of these workers to satisfy the needs of their users in light of the cuts that this sector has suffered. On the other side it shows the difficulty of networking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews scholarship concerned with the ways in which morality shapes organizational practice on the frontlines of the state: how bureaucrats, who draw on, contest, and apply moral schemas while delegating rights, resources, and punishments on behalf of the state to discrete subjects, manage the reality of being on the frontlines. A central focus of this scholarship is on situations characterized by tensions between agency-codified regulations and moral values; in such situations, moral categorizations once relegated to the background of consciousness become visible and subject to debate and, in turn, shed important light on how morality informs organizational practice. Current theorizing on the interrelations between morality and organizational practice in client-serving bureaucracies could nonetheless be improved by greater scholarly attention to bureaucrats' perceptions of moral incongruence, and to the micro-dynamic processes through which they seek to actualize their aspirations for moral resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe categories that states use to classify and govern migrants often diverge from how migrants themselves perceive and experience their conditions, biographies, and identities. Building on this insight, I argue in this article that state categories not only clash with migrants’ varied notions of categories: state categorization itself often relies on multiple definitions of categories and methods of categorization. Age assessments of young refugees in Germany demonstrate this multiplicity. These assessments are carried out by forensic medical examiners and social workers, respectively, who work with very different understandings of what constitutes age. While forensic scientists view age as countable, particular, and objective, social workers think of it as lived, assembled, and constructed. What I term the classificatory multiplicity of the state complements current scholarly endeavors aimed at critically examining state categories, particularly in the context of migration governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When public administrators resolve disputes between citizens and other state officials, are they truly impartial? The question is imperative for evaluating resolutions made by street-level bureaucrats whom citizens often perceive as the face of public administration. This study examines the relationship between public accreditation and the tendency of street-level bureaucrats' resolutions to accept the state's arguments or the citizens' claims. Using quantitative analysis of administrative lower-court rulings in Israeli tax disputes, the findings link public accreditation to state favoritism in street-level resolutions. Such an outcome, if not accounted for, may jeopardize procedural fairness and erode public trust in government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAre bureaucratic institutions simply hollowed-out instruments of autocratisation, meaning they merely execute the orders of ­populist-authoritarian actors? If not, how do they deal with the destabilisations of autocratisation? Drawing on a study of street-level bureaucracies in contemporary Turkey, this article contributes to ongoing debates on the (un)makings of autocratisation and its limits through its focus on the role played by documents in everyday bureaucratic praxis. The findings highlight that bureaucracies do not simply operate in a top-down manner with bureaucrats having little to no space for manoeuvre. On the contrary, documents generate ambiguities and anxieties that civil servants strategically deploy through their incessant translations, negotiations, subversion, countercurrents, contestations and resistances to constrain and rebuke autocratisation. In doing so, the article demonstrates the limits of autocratisation in Turkey, and traces how such large-scale transformations are experienced from within state institutions, and how they unlock the agentive potential for the stakeholders, such as bureaucrats. The article challenges conventional discussions across political science through its attendance to the countercurrents and resistance from within the state, rendering the state not as a coherent, homogeneous entity but more as an incessantly rearticulated relationality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has posed numerous challenges for Street-Level Bureaucrats (SLBs). This paper adopts the sensemaking framework to examine the teaching experiences of high school teachers in the online environment, specifically focusing on their interpretation and implementation of COVID-19-related policies. Sixteen teachers from different high schools in Vietnam were selected purposely as participants in this study by considering the geographical influence and school rankings. The study reveals that decision-makers tend to grant higher levels of discretion to SLBs during crises compared to normal circumstances in the Vietnamese context, emphasizing the role of socio-cultural and political contexts in shaping policy implementation within centralized education systems. Also, recognizing the significance of policy signals and adopting a bottom-up approach that acknowledges the impact of SLBs on policy outcomes is paramount. By providing valuable insights to policymakers and school officials, this study provides an implication for reevaluating how better-established policy signals are received during times of crisis to prevent unintended consequences that may arise from local-level policy implementation.

Schools play a crucial role for migrant families’ arrival processes. Educational guidelines, procedures, and requirements (such as admission waiting lists or school curricula) are translated into practices on the ground, with many school professionals acting as policy intermediaries shaping (in)formal policy-making and facilitating newcomers’ access to resources. Analysing the everyday work and practices of school bureaucrats can help better understand their formal and informal roles in migration governance and newcomers’ access to resources. Drawing on Lipsky’s (1980/2010) concept of street-level bureaucracy, this article looks at primary schools in Nordstadt, Dortmund (Germany). The schools are situated in a context with a long history of arrival and a high influx of newcomers in recent years. Participant observation and interviews with school staff (headteachers, teachers, and social workers) illustrate that the agency of street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) can involve more than just coping with inadequate resources: SLBs can go the extra mile, for example, “bending” curricula to suit circumstances. The article focuses on how school staff do not necessarily limit themselves to their standard tasks but expand their range of activities formally and sometimes quite informally, even though they are confronted with diverse demands and many work at the limits of their capacities. By analysing schools as arrival infrastructure through the lens of SLBs, this article contributes to a better understanding of how migrant newcomers’ needs and state requirements are mediated. While the embeddedness of SLBs in such macro-factors as the type of welfare regime or political culture and organisational settings is well described, their embeddedness at the city and especially the neighbourhood levels has been studied much less systematically. One enabling factor for SLBs’ commitment to contribute under (un)certain conditions to facilitating newcomers’ access to resources is their multiple embeddedness and particularly their local collaboration in an ecosystem of interconnected social infrastructures.

What strategies are used to legitimize and enhance the popularity of the Reform marriage ceremony among Israeli Jews? Using a mixed-method grounded-theory technique, this study stresses that the strategies used to legitimize and enhance the popularity of the Reform marriage ceremony among Israeli Jews take place in two parallel realms: the organizational and the individual. At the organizational level, the Israel Reform Movement invests resources into institutionalizing the Reform marriage ceremony in Israel, using the judicial and the political strata to accomplish this goal. At the same time, at the individual level, Reform rabbis operate as street-level policy entrepreneurs by enhancing the visibility of the Reform marriage ceremony among Israeli Jews by advertising themselves and conducting as many ceremonies as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates processes of spatially ordered marginality of Roma in a former industrial town in Hungary. The analysis focuses on local poverty governance tactics and practices that aim to maintain social and spatial order through the regulation and selective displacement of Roma within the city. These practices of controlling Roma marginality are clear manifestations of the spatialization and racialization of poverty and I argue that spatial containment constitutes a new mode of poverty governance that aims to temper local tensions and cement local power. Moreover, these local policies reflect continuity from socialist era practices in terms of governing Roma marginality through disciplining and displacement. In the present context, EU-funded urban rehabilitation projects represent a vital local resource. While ostensibly targeting social integration, the local government in question has used these resources to promote the mobility of 'deserving' vulnerable groups and control 'undeserving' marginalized Roma through enclosure. Those who are seen as undeserving are racialized and subject to punitive containment while the 'deserving' enjoy material support and a sense of belonging to local society, provided they accept the conditions dictated by local government actors. In this way, the emphasis on individual responsibility masks the structural deficiencies of social housing and related social issues and perpetuates different forms of racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to other studies on policy entrepreneurship that address frontline officials' roles in formal legislative procedures, this case study focuses on how frontline officials promote policy innovation within inconspicuous administrative routines. Because frontline officials have no legislative power, they must overcome officialism by using bureaucratic skills and seeking consensus among multiple stakeholders. "Citizen agents" and "state agents" are both necessary roles. This case provides administrative details on how a deadlocked policy was gradually enlivened within undramatic administrative routines. The findings bridge the legislative–administrative gap and improve the understanding of the long-term effects of frontline administrative activities on policy innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this conceptual study is to highlight the potential contribution of emotional intelligence as a tool in advancing the study of equity in public service delivery. By reviewing the literature on emotional intelligence in public administration and rationalizing its relationship with equity among street-level bureaucrats and bureaucracies, this article proposes a strategy to promote social equity in the provision of public service. The proposed strategy focuses on the role of EI-supportive organizational culture, and particularly human resource management practices, as a means to enhance bureaucrats' emotionally intelligent behavior in their interactions with citizens-clients. Finally, the article proposes a theoretical and methodological agenda for future research in this important field of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coping behaviors of street-level bureaucrats have received increasing attention in the past decade. Although recent literature has explored the classification of coping behaviors and their antecedents, little is known about how coping behaviors connect street-level bureaucrats' mission attachment, their enforcement effectiveness, and psychological commitment to the organization. In this study, we developed a conceptual framework examining the mediating effects of "moving against regulatees," a coping behavior characterized by rigid enforcement of rules. Using survey data collected from frontline environmental law enforcement officers in China, we found that a strong attachment to the mission was positively related to the coping behavior of moving against regulatees. This behavior was also associated with increased enforcement effectiveness but decreased organizational commitment. The results highlight that, although moving against regulatees is positively associated with immediate enforcement outcomes, it may have a negative association with enforcement performance in the long run by eroding organizational commitment among street-level bureaucrats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millions of urbanites across the Global South receive intermittent water supply (IWS). This paper examines how discretionary action by street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) in everyday water supply planning in IWS systems redistributes water quantities and service quality to alleviate unequal scarcity burdens. Ethnographic findings from the small city of Tiruppur, India, reveal that SLBs' supply plans aim to distribute water volumes equitably within the network. However, SLBs' communicative strategies to manage socio-material uncertainties and improve supply predictability, a critical dimension of service quality, reinforce existing socio-spatial inequalities. Rethinking SLBs' contradictory discretionary actions in everyday water supply plans is crucial for managing water scarcity equitably in the IWS systems of Global South cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Street Level Bureaucrat (SLB) and Conservation of Resources theories are used to develop measures for Public Value (PV) and a higher-order construct comprising psychological capacities and behavioural capabilities – HERO-INE, and to test whether it is an antecedent of Public Service Motivation (PSM) and Public Value (PV) using data from 259 SLBs working in Australian healthcare collected at two points in time and analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. HERO-INE, PSM, and in-role behaviour explained approximately 40% of the SLBs' PV. The implication is that organizations must ensure that SLBs have the psychological and behavioural capabilities to deliver PV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Albeit one of the most pervasive forms of gender violence, street harassment tends to be either not considered a crime or to be faulty criminalized. This investigation contributes to better understand the overall inefficiency of existing laws through an analysis of the criminalization of street harassment in Portugal. Particularly, it searches for obstacles to implementation among those responsible for the process—the street-level bureaucrats of the Portuguese Public Security Police. Through 14 semi-structured interviews, three groups of obstacles to implementation were identified: perceptions of the legislation's content, a masculinist institutional culture, and personal characteristics. These are new findings that contribute to an understanding of the perpetuation of gender violence through state's institutions and workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: – Civics teachers face challenges in offering male vocational students quality citizenship education. – Civics teachers perceive this student group as vulnerable and in need of extra support. – When unable to offer desired civics education, teachers feel angry and resigned. – Civics teachers are willing to bend certain rules to support this particular student group. – If this student group lacks better civics education, their future and Sweden's democracy are at risk. Purpose: This paper examines how vocational civics teachers navigate structural constraints and their understanding of the challenges involved in preparing vocational students for democratic citizenship. Design/methodology/approach: Using a discoursive psychological approach to analyse interview material, the study discusses identified discourses about critical policy analysis and street-level bureaucracy theory. Findings: The findings reveal that the structure of vocational upper-secondary education significantly constrains civics teachers. Teachers oscillate between feelings of compassion, anger, resignation, and rebellion as they attempt to manage these challenges. Research limitations/implications: The study highlights the need for further ethnographic research on teaching practices. Practical implications: A significant number of Swedish upper-secondary students receive a limited civics education that inadequately prepares them for democratic citizenship.

Groundwater management is a complex task that includes a multitude of actors. It is even more complicated in water scarce countries with less well-established formal water governance structures. In these settings, local government officers have been recognised for their essential role in groundwater management. Often, their role is described as problematic, with officers being under-resourced, under-motivated and, at times, corrupt. In this paper we zoom in on these street-level bureaucrats in Azraq, one of the most depleted groundwater basins in Jordan. Based on inputs from officers, farmers, and sector experts, we collate and analyse information on how the settings in which local officers work influence their day-to-day implementation of policies. We observe that officers in Azraq are heavily influenced by the context in which they operate. This context is characterised by the physical scarcity of groundwater, the formal policy setting, and the presence of the shadow state. The context shapes local officers’ relationships with farmers, their own personal beliefs and subjectivities, and their capacity and resources. As a result, their divergent actions arguably become the groundwater management policy. Based on these findings, we argue that a deeper understanding is needed of the underlying factors and drivers that shape local groundwater management if we are to arrive at better groundwater policy for a more sustainable future

In the UK in 2007 a national experiment was initiated with the aim of tackling “Britain’s biggest social problem”: depression. Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) was devised as the solution. A universal free-to-access talking therapies program would make available evidence-based treatment to all patients with depression and anxiety disorders. NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), the body that decides on what is cost-effective, said cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT), not medication, should be its first line offer. The starting gun was fired. The promise from IAPT was 3-fold: to scale up access to CBT rapidly; to achieve recovery targets that would reduce the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders over time; and – most ambitious of all – to ensure the Treasury would see a return on its investment by reducing the economic burden from depression. People who were on invalidity benefits due to depression would be supported back into employment. It was a New Deal for depression, as well as for CBT. But did it work? A decade and a half on with IAPT, are we in any position to give an answer? It is attempted to draw lessons about “what worked”, and what didn’t, to ask ourselves a question: are we – those of us in the applied psychoanalytic community – willing to garner what can be learned from IAPT to advocate a New Deal for evidence-based psychoanalysis? Faced with challenges from unemployment and widening inequalities, against a backdrop where global economic recovery must heed the existential threats from climate change and warfare, to say nothing of the scale of loss and grief for those already impacted by bereavement due to the pandemic, the need for such deal could not be more urgent [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we ask whether princi ple s —relevant institutions, including administrative reform, legal and judicial support, and information and communication technology (ICT)—and princi pal s —ordinary people that are capable, knowledgeable, and willing—can help enhance accountability of street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) by mitigating unwarranted discretionary behaviors. We examined the New York City Police Department by constructing and analyzing a unique dataset drawn from multiple sources and by using the SLB literature to inform our empirical model specification. Fixed effects regression analysis revealed the potential of princi ple s and princi pal s in motivating or reducing police officers' use of force resulting in substantiated civilian complaints. Specifically, proactive policing strategies, exonerated civilian complaint dispositions, court summons following arrests, and ICT are the princi ple s, and a low-poverty population served by police are the princi pal s we found to influence discretionary police behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Street-level Bureaucrats are bureaucrats who are at the forefront of implementing programs or policies. Their duties and functions are diverse, and based on their duties, they are expected to improve the welfare of community by implementing policies and assisting the public in services. They play an important role in policy implementation and have a strong influence on policy outcomes. This study aims to determine the value orientation of street-level bureaucrats and their attitudes toward beneficiaries in the implementation of the Non-cash Food Assistance Program. The research method uses a Mix Methods research design with a dominant scheme in a qualitative approach. The research focus areas are: (a) value orientation of street-level bureaucrats and (b) attitude of street-level bureaucrats toward beneficiaries. The total population of the study was 1916 and after calculations using a certain formula, a research sample of 95 individuals was obtained. Based on the results of the study, it is known that the value orientation of street-level bureaucrats stands out for social or cooperative orientation, while their attitude toward beneficiaries is positive so that in carrying out their duties they do not do much discretionary action. The research recommendation is that officers must always update beneficiary data and carry out external supervision in distributing aid. In addition to using mixed methods, it is also expected to conduct research using a quantitative approach to understand the effect of value orientation and attitudes on the effectiveness of program implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined how legislators, central bureaucrats, and teachers interpret the Swedish School Act's formulation that education should be based on science. A special focus was on education about values. The study was conducted using informant interviews with representatives of the political, central bureaucratic, and teacher level. The results show that there are conflicting conclusions both within and between representatives as to whether the legal requirement, that education should be based on science, is relevant to value education. The lack of clarity about how the legal requirement should be interpreted in relation to value education is problematic for at least two reasons. Firstly, it is problematic if the meaning of a law, which is the state's strongest form of regulation, is unclear. Secondly, the unclarity can threaten the legitimacy of the state's exercise of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizens with lower social status are underrepresented in participatory democratic innovations like citizens' initiatives. Much research focuses on the barriers to participation that these citizens experience. The current study concentrates on civil servants tasked with advising on what initiatives to support and how. Informed by research on the social construction of target groups and the use of social stereotypes by civil servants, our work scrutinizes how the social status of initiators plays a role in the assessments of citizens' initiatives. Grounded on vignette-based, in-depth interviews with civil servants, we conclude that social status does indeed play a role. Contrary to the conventional understanding, we find that: (1) high-status initiators are met with suspicion and low-status initiators with benevolence; and (2) high-status initiators are offered hands-off support, while those with a low status are provided with hands-on help to carry out their plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public servants' mental health can impact how, how well, and to whom services are delivered. In this article, we extend the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) framework to consider whether employees' perceptions of themselves, their co-workers, and beneficiaries predict higher psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a survey of state and local public servants (n = 3,341), we report alarming rates of psychological distress: one in three employees are burnt out and one in five are experiencing compassion fatigue. Those who view government as the place to make a difference, and those who perceive co-workers as competent, are less likely to report distress. Those who attribute poverty to systemic factors, and not to individual flaws of beneficiaries, experience higher distress. These findings suggest an urgent need to prioritize public servant mental health, and show that individual perceptions of self and others can predict variation in psychological distress, even in periods of widespread crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on my experience as a teaching assistant (TA), I expand on Michael Lipsky's concept of the street-level bureaucrat by focusing on how an agency's construction of the client shapes the work of the bureaucrat. I call this selective recognition. The university classifies students into three types: the archetypal student for whom the university is designed, the partially recognized student who receives accommodations, and the unrecognized student with responsibilities that make learning difficult. The result is an adaptation of the TA's three dimensions of the labor process: teaching, administration, and care work. The labor contract stipulates the first and a modicum of the second but not the third. Changing student demographics have increased all dimensions of TA labor, especially administrative tasks and the amount of invisible care work performed. The extractive university relies on this invisible and often overextended labor to dampen and conceal the reality of its own failing mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater management is a complex task that includes a multitude of actors. It is even more complicated in water scarce countries with less well-established formal water governance structures. In these settings, local government officers have been recognised for their essential role in groundwater management. Often, their role is described as problematic, with officers being under-resourced, under-motivated and, at times, corrupt. In this paper we zoom in on these street-level bureaucrats in Azraq, one of the most depleted groundwater basins in Jordan. Based on inputs from officers, farmers, and sector experts, we collate and analyse information on how the settings in which local officers work influence their day-to-day implementation of policies. We observe that officers in Azraq are heavily influenced by the context in which they operate. This context is characterised by the physical scarcity of groundwater, the formal policy setting, and the presence of the shadow state. The context shapes local officers' relationships with farmers, their own personal beliefs and subjectivities, and their capacity and resources. As a result, their divergent actions arguably become the groundwater management policy. Based on these findings, we argue that a deeper understanding is needed of the underlying factors and drivers that shape local groundwater management if we are to arrive at better groundwater policy for a more sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust has proven to be a predictor of organizational outcomes. In some cases, such as law enforcement, achieving organizational goals requires workers to be willing to risk their lives. Is there a link between street-level bureaucrats' (SLBs) willingness to endanger their own lives for the public and their trust in their peers, managers, and the institution to which they belong? Using a national survey of 2,733 police officers in Brazil and machine-learning-based methods, we found that there is a significant link between their willingness to risk their lives for others and their trust in their peers, managers, and the institution to which they belong. Our findings indicate that while these SLBs were very willing to risk their lives for certain groups, their willingness declined sharply for others such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ)+ people and the homeless. In addition, police officers' perceptions about discrimination, police professionalism, and organizational commitment and support are linearly linked to their willingness to risk their lives. Our findings demonstrate the important role of trust in understanding public servants' practices in the extreme context of risking their lives for others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public administration literature has long observed the efforts of street-level bureaucrats to actively represent the clients with whom they share a social or demographic identity. However, it has not examined the responses that street-level bureaucrats receive when they represent minorities and how these responses shape how they use discretion in implementing policies. We explore these issues empirically through in-depth interviews with 23 Israeli Arab social and community workers and 32 Israeli LGBTQ+ teachers. This exploratory study reveals the variety of reactions that street-level bureaucrats encounter when representing minorities. Furthermore, it highlights the significant role of reactions from clients and organizations in encouraging, reducing, or impeding the efforts of minority street-level bureaucrats to represent those with whom they share an identity, which, in turn, underscores the importance of external responses for confirming and legitimizing active representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on pedagogical leaders’ challenges and tensions in their everyday work in early childhood education (ECE) in Norway. It investigates the relationship between policies and regulations formulated in the Framework Plan for Kindergarten (FPK) (Ministry of Education and Research, 2017) and their leadership enactment and practices in Norway’s ECE settings. Drawing on Lipsky’s (2010) street-level bureaucrats (SLB) theoretical framework, it analyses how ECE pedagogical leaders interpret and implement educational policies. The qualitative methods of this study include semi-structured interviews with twenty pedagogical leaders and four kindergarten managers and participatory observation in four ECEs. The article explores and discusses the following research questions: How do pedagogical leaders in early childhood education experience and navigate policy and regulations at work? What tensions and challenges may arise in these processes? Findings reveal the complexity of their role in navigating policy and regulations. The analysis finds three main challenges and tensions: (1) balancing compliance and autonomy, (2) stakeholders’ demands and professional judgment, and (3) navigating limited resources and workload. In line with research in the ECE field (see, e.g. Børhaug & Bøe, 2014, 2022), the findings argue that the tensions and challenges of ECE pedagogical leaders may lead to a simplification of their work, decreased critical thinking, and less knowledge development, potentially impacting pedagogical quality.

Despite the plethora of studies on street-level bureaucrats, only a very limited body of research has focused on their role in the environmental scene. This is surprising; Because they play an important role in the chain of policy-making and in the actual realization and implementation of policies; Therefore, the current research was conducted with the aim of identifying and prioritizing the role of street-level bureaucrats in the implementation of environmental policies (case of study: the law on protection and exploitation of forests in the north of the country). To achieve this goal, first a qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis method. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data. Using purposeful sampling, subject saturation was achieved after conducting eleven interviews. The method of fuzzy hierarchical analysis process was used to give weight to these themes. The data of this stage was collected using a paired comparison questionnaire that was collected from a sample of eleven employees and foresters in three northern provinces. The extraction of semantic units led to the identification of 169 basic themes, 30 organizing themes and 9 overarching themes, in which nine main themes are "emotional attitude towards citizens, organizational characteristics, changing the nature of the policy, knowledge weakness of employees, individual decision characteristics" It was classified as the recipient, determining how to govern the forest, adopting coping strategies, localizing the policy and making the policy operational. The results of the fuzzy hierarchical analysis showed that among the nine main themes, changing the nature of the policy, determining how to govern the forest and adopting coping strategies were in the first to third place. The final weights of the subthemes were obtained by multiplying the weight of the main themes by the relative weight of the subthemes; Based on this, the sub-topics of adaptation of policies to local conditions, government-citizen relations, hidden politics and weak expertise and skills of employees were ranked first to fourth.The final weights of the subthemes were obtained by multiplying the weight of the main themes by the relative weight of the subthemes; Based on this, the sub-topics of adaptation of policies to local conditions, government-citizen relations, hidden politics and weak expertise and skills of employees were ranked first to fourth.The final weights of the subthemes were obtained by multiplying the weight of the main themes by the relative weight of the subthemes; Based on this, the sub-topics of adaptation of policies to local conditions, government-citizen relations, hidden politics and weak expertise and skills of employees were ranked first to fourth.The final weights of the subthemes were obtained by multiplying the weight of the main themes by the relative weight of the subthemes; Based on this, the sub-topics of adaptation of policies to local conditions, government-citizen relations, hidden politics and weak expertise and skills of employees were ranked first to fourth.The final weights of the subthemes were obtained by multiplying the weight of the main themes by the relative weight of the subthemes; Based on this, the sub-topics of adaptation of policies to local conditions, government-citizen relations, hidden politics and weak expertise and skills of employees were ranked first to fourth.

BackgroundNurse champions are front-line practitioners who implement innovation and reconstruct policy.PurposeTo understand through a network theory lens the factors that facilitate nurse champions' engagement with radical projects, representing their actions as street-level bureaucrats (SLBs).Materials and methodsA personal-network survey was employed. Ninety-one nurse champions from three tertiary medical centers in Israel participated.FindingsGiven high network density, high levels of advice play a bigger role in achieving high radicalness compared with lower levels advice. High network density is also related to higher radicalness when networks have high role diversity.DiscussionUsing an SLB framework, the findings suggest that nurse champions best promote adoption of innovation and offer radical changes in their organizations through professional advice given by colleagues in their field network. Healthcare organizations should establish the structure and promote the development of dense and heterogeneous professional networks to realize organizations' goals and nurses' responsibility to their professional employees, patients, and society.

Research on administrative burdens has demonstrated that families experience significant costs in navigating different institutions. Yet studies have often focused more on the nature of the burdens that result from administrative rules than on the types of obstacles that produce these burdens. Less attention has also been paid to how families navigate multiple institutions simultaneously. Drawing on qualitative research with Congolese refugees resettled in the United States, we conceptualize how errors and mishaps in organizations tangled procedures into institutional knots, or complex blockages. We also show how some knots had a ripple effect as problems in one institution reverberated, leading to new, unrelated problems in different institutions. These institutional knots and subsequent reverberations were costly to resolve and a hindrance to upward mobility.

AbstractFrontline workers in host-country state organizations influence refugees’ life chances and social integration. Yet little is known about how the local organizational environment shapes the action orientations of street-level bureaucrats (SLBs). This article explores how German job centers and placement officers have responded to the unprecedented increase in refugee clients following the winter of 2015/16. Our findings suggest that new organizational structures motivate SLBs to interpret rules flexibly and do what works well. This pattern of authorized rule bending is relevant for overcoming the limits of activation and for the inclusion/exclusion of refugees as mediated by state bureaucracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on Street-Level Bureaucracy (SLB) points to several behavioral motivators that influence their performance, such as Discretion, Self-interest, Norms, and Public Interest. Although these aspects occur simultaneously, there are no studies on which behavioral motivators are decisive for the performance of SLB. This research aims to analyze the influence of the interaction of different behavioral motivators of the SLB in their performance in implementing public policies. To achieve the proposed objective, a structured questionnaire was applied to 10,014 Federal Highway Police officers active during the research period, with 426 respondents. Data were analyzed using structural equation analysis. The results showed that Discretion, Norms, and Public Interest were positively associated with Operating Performance. For Institutional Performance, only the Norms and Public Interest dimensions were positively associated. The results indicate that the relevance of the different behavioral motivators of the SLB varies according to the performance variable observed and reiterate the asymmetry of perceptions between the different organizational levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do street-level bureaucrats exercise discretion to encourage clients' political participation? If so, how, and in what way is it demonstrated? This study examines these questions empirically through 36 semi-structured in-depth interviews with LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) teachers in Israel. Findings reveal that these street-level bureaucrats encourage clients to participate politically through strategies they adopt both inside and outside the work environment. In the classroom their lessons contain political content and expressions of political protest. Outside school they employ digital media to influence students. Clients' political participation is manifested both jointly with street-level bureaucrats and independently of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the logic of Simon's decision-making theory, this study compares the effects of AI versus humans on discretion, client meaningfulness, and willingness-to-implement, and examines the moderating role of different types of decisions on those relationships. The findings show that AI usage has a negative effect on perceived discretion and a positive effect on willingness-to-implement. Conversely, non-programmed decisions tend to have a positive effect on both perceived discretion and willingness-to-implement. Moreover, non-programmed decisions mitigated the effect of AI usage on perceived discretion, while programmed decisions interacted with AI usage to improve client meaningfulness and strengthen willingness-to-implement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that street-level bureaucrats rely on notions of deservingness to manage their caseloads. Accounts traditionally identify how workers use mainstream cues to categorize clients, but a growing literature calls for situated accounts of discretion. This study draws on fieldwork with public defenders to describe how institutional position and professional knowledge condition discretion. I analyze how the dynamics of representation inform defenders' understandings of and advocacy for clients with varying criminal-legal backgrounds and needs. In this case study, defenders' perceived strategic options penetrate their estimations of clients' deservingness and drive their advocacy. Tailored representation elevates the needs of individuals without records and those with unremitting criminal-legal contact, helping attorneys manage their caseloads and advance their aspirations, but it produces uneven defense. I develop a role concept, "structural antagonist," to signify and describe a uniquely situated street-level bureaucrat whose mandate includes both serving and straining the institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the UK in 2007 a national experiment was initiated with the aim of tackling "Britain's Biggest Social Problem"—Depression. Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) was devised as the solution. A universal free‐to‐access talking therapies program would make available evidence‐based treatment to all adults with depression. NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), the body that decides on what is cost‐effective, said CBT, not antidepressants, should be its first line offer. The starting gun was fired. The promise from IAPT was 3‐fold: to scale up access to CBT rapidly; to achieve recovery targets that would reduce the prevalence of depression over time; and—most ambitious of all—to ensure the Treasury would see a return on its investment by reducing the economic burden from depression. People who were on invalidity benefits due to depression would be supported back into employment. It was a New Deal for depression. As well as for CBT. But did it work? A decade and a half on with IAPT, are we in any position to give an answer? This paper will seek to draw lessons about "What Worked", and what didn't, to ask ourselves a question: are we—those of us in the applied psychoanalytic community—willing to garner what can be learned from IAPT to advocate a new deal for evidence‐based psychoanalysis? Faced with challenges from unemployment and widening inequalities, against a backdrop where global economic recovery must heed the existential threats from climate change and ongoing warfare, to say nothing of the scale of loss and grief for those already impacted by bereavement due to the pandemic, the need for some such deal could not be more urgent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines how newly arrived Syrian refugees experience and navigate their encounters with street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) in three urban settings: Adana, Turkey; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Irbid, Jordan. The encounters took place in the context of local government institutions responsible for assisting refugees upon their arrival in the host society. The broader question examined is how refugees respond when experiencing dissatisfaction with their encounters with SLBs in the receiving country. In our analysis, we draw upon the Exit, Voice, Loyalty, Neglect model suggesting different patterns of response to dissatisfaction with public services. We also deploy an additional, understudied response type, Gaming. The degree of satisfaction–dissatisfaction experienced by Syrian refugees and the kind of response strategies they resorted to as a consequence of that experience varied notably from country to country. Syrian refugees in Gothenburg and Adana felt more dissatisfied with and frustrated by their encounters with SLBs than their compatriots in Irbid. The responses of the refugees in Adana were mostly of the Exit and Neglect type. In Gothenburg, on the other hand, interviewees primarily resorted to Neglect and Voice responses, while in Irbid Gaming, Exit, and Loyalty were the most common response strategies opted for to express and act upon one's dissatisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Agricultural activities constitute the most significant source of nitrate pollution, posing a threat to water quality and ecosystem services. The Nitrates Directive is an integral feature of the Water Framework Directive, which seeks to reduce nitrate pollution from agricultural sources. Directive compliance has proven to be problematic for every Member State in fulfilling their respective implementation duties. Objectives: The research focuses on the nitrate management discourse within agricultural landscapes of Poland and provides a governance capacity framework to understand how social factors shape local implementation performance. The case study examines how the social factors of social capital and street-level bureaucrats constrain or enable stakeholder agency within agricultural landscapes. Methods: The empirical investigation utilizes a multi-method assessment, including a survey categorizing social capital levels among 31 Polish farmers, interviews with nine stakeholders, and a literature review. Results: The findings demonstrate how differentiated social capital levels are a result of complex social dynamics within the nitrate management discourse. Achieving policy objectives rests on stakeholder interactions in their capacity to navigate myriad changes and translate policy messages into practical actions. Due to low social capital levels exhibited by farmers and limited agency of street-level bureaucrats, overall capacity for effective nitrogen management in Polish agricultural landscapes is constrained. Conclusions: Overall, the study contributes new insights in identifying how social factors affect the ability of Member States to fulfill implementation obligations. Further, the study discusses the influence of social factor interplay upon actor agency and subsequent policy relevance amidst changing agri-environmental landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]