Distinguishing the street‐level policy entrepreneur

Abstract

Policy entrepreneurs—individuals who champion a policy and engage in intense advocacy to secure it—are most frequently characterized as political elites or individuals well connected to such elites. However, an emerging literature suggests that street‐level bureaucrats who deliver government services to the public can also prosecute policy entrepreneurship. There has been little investigation of how these actors differ from elite‐level policy entrepreneurs who focus on agenda‐setting and initial policy approval. Evidence from six case vignettes from US state wetland policy suggest that street‐level policy entrepreneurs are distinguished by defensive motivation, greater constancy of effort, recruitment of a less politically powerful network of supporters, and challenges associated with cultivating ties to external resource providers and intra‐governmental allies. Street‐level policy entrepreneurship helps explain policy innovation within bureaucracies and by bureaucrats, offering new insight into the motivation and behaviours of ground‐level officials whose day‐to‐day choices shape policy.

Working through the fog of a pandemic: Street‐level policy entrepreneurship in times of crises

“…It is now well‐accepted that not only politicians and top‐government executives act as policy entrepreneurs, but also lower‐level bureaucrats, including SLBs (Arnold, 2015, 2020; Cohen, 2016; Frisch‐Aviram et al, 2018; Zahariadis, 2008). SLPE is often ascribed to the close and direct relationship of SLBs with the public, which allows to identify on‐the‐ground needs and windows of opportunity for taking action (Arnold, 2015, 2020) and contributes to public trust (Arnold, 2015; Lavee & Cohen, 2019). SLBs who exercise policy entrepreneurship share some similarities, yet are distinct from other policy entrepreneurs (Arnold, 2020).…”

“…SLPE is often ascribed to the close and direct relationship of SLBs with the public, which allows to identify on‐the‐ground needs and windows of opportunity for taking action (Arnold, 2015, 2020) and contributes to public trust (Arnold, 2015; Lavee & Cohen, 2019). SLBs who exercise policy entrepreneurship share some similarities, yet are distinct from other policy entrepreneurs (Arnold, 2020). Similarities include utilizing entrepreneurial strategies, such as building multidimensional coalitions, sharing knowledge with allies, and gaining professional and political knowledge “for effectively influencing a matter concerning policy” (Lavee & Cohen, 2019, p. 9).…”

“…The significance of bidirectional flow of information between policy design and street‐level implementation shifts attention to the involvement of SLBs in policy formulation processes in general, and to SLBs' efforts to influence policy outcomes in particular, namely, street‐level policy entrepreneurship (herein, SLPE, e.g., Arnold, 2015; Cohen, 2016; Lavee & Cohen, 2019). Like policy entrepreneurs in general, who aim to mobilize public attention in order to promote innovative policy solutions (Mintrom, 2000), SLBs who act as policy entrepreneurs seek to secure a specific policy outcome, which may be driven by varied motivations (Arnold, 2020; Frisch‐Aviram et al, 2018).…”

“…Second, SLPE during the crisis shared similarities with SLPE in routine times, yet also differed in some key respects. Prominent similarities are defensive motivation, and mobilizing insiders and outsiders as a key strategy (e.g., Arnold, 2020). Prominent differences are the mobilization of politically powerful supporters and drawing mostly on collective efforts.…”

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the performance of street level bureaucrats in Brazil

“…In general, when developed, strategies and performance protocols are designed centrally and without listening to frontline professionals. The literature has shown how the role of SLBs as policy entrepreneurs allows for changes that enhance their capacity for action (ARNOLD, 2020;FRISCH AVIRAM;BEERI, 2020). In times of crisis, the complex and uncertain scenario poses unprecedented challenges for policy formulation.…”