Street-Level Bureaucracy

by Lipsky, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780871545442
• ISBN10: 0871545446
• Edition: 30th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-05-01
• Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation

Summary

First published in 1980, Street-Level Bureaucracy received critical acclaim for its insightful study of how public service workers, wielding considerable discretion in how to execute their jobs, function as policy decisionmakers. Three decades later, public urgency to bolster the availability and effectiveness of healthcare, social services, education, and law enforcement has intensified, making Street-Level Bureaucracy more relevant now than ever. In this thirtieth anniversary expanded edition, Michael Lipsky revisits the territory he mapped out in the first edition to reflect on significant policy developments and show that street-level bureaucracies can be improved and work in public service fields can be rewarding.

Table of Contents

Preface: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
Introduction
The Critical Role of Street-Level Bureaucrats	p. 3
Conflict over the scope and substance of public services	p. 4
Conflict over interactions with citizens	p. 8
Street-Level Bureaucrats as Policy Makers	p. 13
Discretion	p. 13
Relative Autonomy from Organizational Authority	p. 16
Differences Between Street-Level Bureaucrats and Managers	p. 18
Resources for Resistance	p. 23
Conditions of Work
Introduction	p. 27
The Problem of Resources	p. 29
Demand and Supply, or Why Resources are Usually Inadequate in Street-Level Bureaucracies	p. 33
Goals and Performance Measures	p. 40
Goals	p. 40
Performance Measures	p. 48
Relations with Clients	p. 54
Nonvoluntary Clients	p. 54
Conflict, Reciprocity, and Control	p. 57
The Social Construction of a Client	p. 59
Advocacy and Alienation in Street-Level Work	p. 71
Advocacy	p. 72
Alienation	p. 75
Implications of Alienation	p. 79
Patterns of Practice
Introduction	p. 81
Rationing Services: Limitation of Access and Demand	p. 87
The Costs of Service	p. 88
Queuing	p. 95
Routines and Rationing	p. 99
Rationing Services: Inequality in Administration	p. 105
A Comment on the Ubiquity of Bias	p. 111
Controlling Clients and the Work Situation	p. 117
Husbanding Resources	p. 125
Managing the Consequences of Routine Practice	p. 133
The Client-Processing Mentality	p. 140
Modifications of Conceptions of Work	p. 142
Modifications of Conceptions of Clients	p. 151
The Future of Street-Level Bureaucracy
The Assault on Human Services: Bureaucratic Control, Accountability, and the Fiscal Crisis	p. 159
Holding Workers to Agency Objectives	p. 162
Accountability and Productivity	p. 170
Street-Level Bureaucrats and the Fiscal Crisis	p. 172
The Broader Context of Bureaucratic Relations	p. 180
Contradictory Tendencies in Street-Level Bureaucratic Relations	p. 188
Support for Human Services: Notes for Reform and Reconstruction	p. 192
Directions for Greater Client Autonomy	p. 193
Directions for Current Practice	p. 196
The Prospects and Problems of Professionalism	p. 201
Keeping New Professionals New	p. 204
On Managing Street-Level Bureaucracy	p. 212
An Evolving Policy Environment for Street-Level Bureaucracy	p. 212
Shaping Street-Level Bureaucrats' Performance	p. 221
Investing in Street-Level Bureaucrats	p. 229
Conclusion	p. 236
Notes	p. 239
Index	p. 267
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