Professionals, Managers and Discretion: Critiquing Street-Level Bureaucracy

Evans, Tony

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcq074

Cited by 333 publications

(268 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Public policy percolates through several political levels before it reaches the street level (Evans, 2011). We found examples of this in our data, in the everyday language that the inspectors use.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 55%

Street-level alcohol policy: Assessing intoxication at drinking venues in Oslo

Buvik¹,

Baklien²

2014

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy

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Aims: This article examines liquor inspectors' assessments of intoxication at drinking establishments in Norway. It draws upon Lipsky's theory of street-level bureaucrats (1980) to study a situation where laws and informal norms seem to pull in opposite directions. Methods:We conducted 26 ethnographic observations of liquor inspectors' visits to drinking venues in Oslo, as well as qualitative interviews and field conversations with liquor inspectors. Findings:The study reveals that inspectors interpret the Norwegian Alcohol Act in four main ways that lead to lenient enforcement of the law. 1. Inspectors translate the wording of the Act into their everyday language. 2. They use significant discretion when assessing a patron's intoxication level. 3. The inspectors identify with patrons. 4. They find it hard to spot deviance when everyone is drunk. Conclusions:Research on alcohol policy usually focuses on the national level. Decisions made at the 'street level', however, might also lead to over-serving, alcohol-related harm and violence. The street-level alcohol policy allows a level of intoxication far above that allowed by the law. In this way, the inspectors support and maintain a liberal drinking culture.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 55%

Street-level alcohol policy: Assessing intoxication at drinking venues in Oslo

Buvik¹,

Baklien²

2014

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy

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“…It has long been recognised that this process is delivered through 'street-level bureaucracies' (Evans 2011;Henwood and Hudson 2008). These form when formal policies do not address the realities that frontline staff face (Lipsky 1976).…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

The need to bring an end to the era of eligibility policies for a person-centred, financially sustainable future

Slasberg¹,

Beresford

2017

Disability & Society

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“…So hatten wir bereits festgestellt, dass die EU mit dem Abkommen von Tampere im Jahre 1999 das GEAS auf den Weg brachte, um den im Amsterdamer Vertrag verankerten "Schengener Raum" migrationspolitisch einzuhegen (Lavenex 2001 (Bast 2014), die das "enjeu" des Asylverwaltungsfeldes "europäisiert". Denn einerseits soll Dublin garantieren, dass Asylanträge einem zuständigen Staat zugewiesen werden, um das Problem der "refugees in orbit" zu vermeiden (Schuster 2002 (Lipsky 2010;Triandafyllidou 2003); es muss den Produktivitätsanforderungen einer standardisierten Massenabfertigung genauso gerecht werden wie einer professionellen Kriterien entsprechenden Einzelfallprüfung (Sorensen und Sorensen 1974;Dunkerley et al 2005); und es muss innerhalb hierarchischer Kontrollstrukturen praktische Handlungsautonomie sichern (Evans 2011;Heyman 1995). Nicht selten manifestieren sich diese Spannungen auch in strukturellen Konflikten zwischen Statusgruppen und Hierarchieebenen, z.…”

Section: Europäische Asylverwaltung Als Feldunclassified

Auf dem Weg zu einem europäischen Verwaltungsfeld? Zur Soziologie der Bürokratisierung Europas am Beispiel des Gemeinsamen Europäischen Asylsystems

Lahusen

2016

Berlin J Soziol

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Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der Bürokratisierung Europas und sucht die Frage zu beantworten, ob der europäische Integrationsprozess jenseits einer europäischen Vergemeinschaftung legislativer und judikativer Funktionen auch das Verwaltungshandeln bis auf den "street level" hinunter verändert. Towards a European administrative field? On the sociology of bureaucratization of Europe using the example of the "Common European Asylum System" Abstract The article deals with the bureaucratization of Europe. Looking beyond the policy and judicial levels, it aims to ascertain whether the European integration process also affects the "street level" of administrative practices. Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice and fields is used to transcend the institutionalist bias of previous research and focus more attentively on administrative practices. The analysis looks at the Common European Asylum System to illustrate that bureaucratization unfolds through the interconnection of practices between member states and the establishment of joint administrative procedures. Especially the Dublin Regulation has implemented cross-national administrative routines of record keeping, case management and responsibility sharing. These routines are highly formalized and objectified. They operate on the basis of electronic databases and software programs that standardize work processes and reduce the space of decision-making. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these developments.

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Professionals, Managers and Discretion: Critiquing Street-Level Bureaucracy

Cited by 333 publications

References 14 publications

Street-level alcohol policy: Assessing intoxication at drinking venues in Oslo

Street-level alcohol policy: Assessing intoxication at drinking venues in Oslo

The need to bring an end to the era of eligibility policies for a person-centred, financially sustainable future

Auf dem Weg zu einem europäischen Verwaltungsfeld? Zur Soziologie der Bürokratisierung Europas am Beispiel des Gemeinsamen Europäischen Asylsystems

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