Street-level bureaucrats are “ public service workers who interact directly with citizens in the course of their jobs, and who have substantial discreation in the execution of their work” (Lipsky 1980).
What is meant by the term street level bureaucrat?
Street level bureaucracies are the public services whose workers ‘interact with and have wide discretion over the dispensation of benefits or allocation of public sanctions ‘ (p. xi) and through whom citizens ‘experience directly the government they have implicitly constructed’ (p. xi).
What are examples of street-level bureaucrats?
Typical street-level bureaucrats are school teachers, social workers, home eldercare providers, health workers, and many other public employees who grant access to government pro- grammes and provide services within them.
What is a street level?
: at the same level as the street Our apartment is at street level.
How do street-level bureaucrats make public policy?
Street-level bureaucrats make policy in two related respects. They exercise wide discretion in decisions about citizens with whom they interact . Then, when taken in concert, their individual actions add up to agency behavior.
How do street-level bureaucrats act?
Street-level bureaucrats act as liaisons between government policy-makers and citizens and these civil servants implement policy decisions made by senior officials in the public service and/or by elected officials.
Are doctors street-level bureaucrats?
Although not usually conceptualized in this way, doctors are, now more than ever, street-level bureaucrats . When a patient is 15 minutes late for an appointment, we decide whether to squeeze them in or reschedule.
Who do street-level bureaucrats work with?
It is useful to remind ourselves of the range of occupations the idea of street-level bureaucrats covers: “street-level bureaucrats are teachers, police officers and other law enforcement personnel, social workers, judges, public lawyers and other court officials, health workers, and many other public officials who ...
Are the police bureaucrats?
Bureaucrats can be split into different categories based on the system, nationality, and time they come from. ... Tax collectors, government accountants, police officers, fire fighters, and military personnel are examples of classical bureaucrats.
Which challenge do street-level bureaucrats often face?
Street-level bureaucrats typically face the following key challenges: Inadequate resources . The resources at their disposal are chronically inadequate relative to the tasks they are required to perform. This resource inadequacy can take various forms.
Social workers are street-level bureaucrats whose professional routine has been strongly influenced by this neoliberal ideology (Anonymous). The withdrawal of the welfare state has also led to increased hardship among disadvantaged populations that has translated into direct pressure on public social service providers.
When the state meets the street summary?
When the State Meets the Street probes the complex moral lives of street-level bureaucrats : the frontline social and welfare workers, police officers, and educators who represent government’s human face to ordinary citizens.
Are policies made at street level?
These street-level bureaucrats implement public policies . However, street-level bureaucrats have to respond to citizens with only a limited amount of information or time to make a decision. ... In response, street bureaucrats develop coping mechanisms.
What defines public policy?
Other scholars define public policy as a system of “courses of action, regulatory measures, laws, and funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated by a governmental entity or its representatives”. Public policy is commonly embodied in “constitutions, legislative acts, and judicial decisions”.
What is the theory of representative bureaucracy?
The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that a public workforce representative of the people in terms of race, ethnicity, and sex will help ensure that the interests of all groups are considered in bureaucratic decision-making processes.
Where is the bureaucracy?
Bureaucratic organization can be found in both public and private institutions .
