Politicians’ involvement in street-level policy implementation: Implications for social equity

Davidovitz, Maayan; Cohen, Nissim

doi:10.1177/09520767211024033

Cited by 19 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…Second, the study's findings support the extensive body of literature focusing on factors influencing SLBs' discretion (Davidovitz & Cohen, 2021a; de Boer, 2020; Gofen, 2014; Lavee & Strier, 2019), and specifically the weight of trust (Davidovitz & Cohen, 2021b; Raaphorst & Van de Walle, 2018; Senghaas et al, 2019). Our study identifies five changes such trust betrayals bring about in SLBs future coping with these and subsequent clients.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…One social worker stated: "My behavior following the crisis of trust has obviously chan-ged… I always think of the worst case that can happen and don't take the risk." Similarly, one teacher said: "Since this Second, the study's findings support the extensive body of literature focusing on factors influencing SLBs' discretion (Davidovitz & Cohen, 2021a;de Boer, 2020;Gofen, 2014;Lavee & Strier, 2019), and specifically the weight of trust (Davidovitz & Cohen, 2021b;Raaphorst & Van de Walle, 2018;Senghaas et al, 2019). Our study identifies five changes such trust betrayals bring about in SLBs future coping with these and subsequent clients.…”

Section: Satisfying Client's Demandssupporting

confidence: 72%

“…The literature has identified many factors influencing how SLBs cope with clients, including organizational conditions (Brodkin, 2012), cultural characteristics (Cohen, 2018), political involvement (Davidovitz & Cohen, 2021a), attitudes (Keulemans & Van de Walle, 2020), and personal values (Keiser, 2010).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“I have learned my lesson”: How clients' trust betrayals shape the future ways in which street‐level bureaucrats cope with their clients

Davidovitz

Cohen

2021

Public Administration

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Trust betrayal is a subjective feeling of a street‐level bureaucrat (SLB) that a client acted contrary to expectations, diminishing the former's belief in the latter's good intentions. How do SLBs experience a betrayal of trust by clients? How do such betrayals shape the future ways in which SLBs cope with clients? We investigate these questions empirically using semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews and focus groups with Israeli social service providers. The findings reveal four types of client trust betrayal: integrity‐based, previous impression‐based, legitimate behavior‐based, and category‐based. We identify five strategies SLBs employ to cope with clients following such betrayals. With specific clients who betrayed their trust, they adopt minimal, formal, and guarded behavior; they satisfy the client's demands; they sever the relationship with the client entirely. With future clients, they exhibit careful, less “naïve” behavior and adopt a boundary‐setting approach. The negative implications for public service delivery may be far‐reaching.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Satisfying Client's Demandssupporting

confidence: 72%

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“I have learned my lesson”: How clients' trust betrayals shape the future ways in which street‐level bureaucrats cope with their clients

Davidovitz

Cohen

2021

Public Administration

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“…As far as coping strategies are concerned, the results of our research are in line with previous studies highlighting the commitment of SLBs to their clients (Dahl et al, 2015; Davidovitz & Cohen, 2021; Jilke & Tummers, 2018), as well as the preponderance of SLBs in welfare sectors to move towards clients (Lavee, 2021). Confirming the findings of Davidovitz and Cohen (2022), we also identified practices of bending rules to satisfy client needs and using personal resources to provide good services, both in Israel and Germany.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Incentives for dynamic development in quasi‐markets come from both public tenders that encourage private, voluntary, and public providers to compete for public funds, and from choice‐based practices allowing clients to choose their provider (Cohen et al, 2016; Klenk & Pavolini, 2015). This situation can prompt SLBs to make decisions that are efficient, but not necessarily always fair (Davidovitz & Cohen, 2021).…”

Section: Slbs and Changing Welfare Marketsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Varieties of welfare markets from a street‐level perspective: Comparing long‐term care services in Germany and Israel

Cohen

Klenk

Davidovitz

et al. 2022

Public Administration Review

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How does the marketization of social service provision impact the practices of street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) towards their clients? To explore this question, we compare the markets for ambulatory long-term care for the elderly in Germany and Israel, which differ in the latitude of choice offered to clients and the intensity of state regulation. Based on 52 qualitative interviews with SLBs and managers of care providers, our study shows that in both countries, institutional contexts play a significant role in shaping street-level bureaucracy practices. We found that SLBs and managers in Israel engage in entrepreneurial behavior, whereas their German counterparts adopt administrative practices. By identifying these tendencies as responses to the respective welfare market characteristics, the article makes an important contribution to the field of comparative SLB research and furthers our understanding of the broader implications of the marketization of welfare services. Evidence for practice• This comparative study of long-term care providers in marketized institutional settings shows that different types of welfare markets impact the practices of street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) towards clients differently. • The findings from our qualitative interviews provide evidence that consumerdriven markets (Israel) encourage both SLBs and their managers to engage in entrepreneurial behavior. In contrast, our interviewees working in a state-driven market (Germany) do not behave entrepreneurially but have a strong focus on administrative practices. • State-driven markets do not necessarily lead to "moving away from" or "against clients." In fact, home care nurses and their managers in both countries use their own resources and "move towards clients" due to professional considerations and-in the Israeli case-business orientation.

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Why we need to study street‐level policy entrepreneurs

Cohen,

Arnold,

Petridou

2023

European Policy Analysis

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An emerging literature argues that street‐level bureaucrats can develop and advocate for policy innovations that change policy in meaningful ways, calling this phenomenon “street‐level policy entrepreneurship.” This argument is at the heart of the present special issue, which features contributions to developing the theoretical underpinnings of street‐level policy entrepreneurship and empirically examining evidence for this phenomenon. While the traditional understanding of street‐level bureaucrats views them as administrative functionaries, lacking motivation or resources for innovation, this new perspective recognizes that street‐level officials' deep knowledge of a given policy domain and involved stakeholders uniquely positions these officials to advocate for policy innovations affecting the domain and its constituents. We urge scholars to take street‐level policy entrepreneurship seriously and to examine questions at the frontiers of our knowledge about these entrepreneurial officials, including what motivates them, what strategies for policy advocacy they find most effective, and how their behaviors are shaped by different institutional contexts.

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Politicians’ involvement in street-level policy implementation: Implications for social equity

Cited by 19 publications

References 79 publications

“I have learned my lesson”: How clients' trust betrayals shape the future ways in which street‐level bureaucrats cope with their clients

“I have learned my lesson”: How clients' trust betrayals shape the future ways in which street‐level bureaucrats cope with their clients

Varieties of welfare markets from a street‐level perspective: Comparing long‐term care services in Germany and Israel

Why we need to study street‐level policy entrepreneurs

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