Mind the Gap: Dimensions and Influence of Street-Level Divergence

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gofen, Anat
• 署名单位: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH AND THEORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1053-1858
• DOI: 10.1093/jopart/mut037
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 473-493
• 关键词: DECISION-MAKING; welfare-reform; bureaucracy; management; service; POLICY; work; implementation; DISCRETION; uk

摘要

Often portrayed as policymakers rather than policytakers, street-level bureaucrats play a key role in policy implementation. It is now well accepted that the implementation actions of street-level workers frequently result in outcomes that differ from those expected from formal policy. Although the adaptation of rules among street-level bureaucrats is well documented, its influence has been relatively understudied. Furthermore, the conceptualization of street-level divergence is relatively ambiguous. To explore the conditions under which divergence may contribute to a policy change, this study suggests a more-nuanced portrayal of street-level divergence, by referring to three analytical dimensions, namely, motivation, transparency, and collectivity. Data draw on street-level actions that are considered inconsistent with formal policy both among policy principals and among street-level workers, in three different policy sectors: education, health, and welfare. Findings suggest that transparent, collective, and other-serving divergence tends to trigger a policy change. A better understanding of the reciprocal relationships between street-level divergence and policy change may contribute to the coordination of the efforts of different governmental tiers as regards policymaking and the design of policy implementation.