Citizen 2.0 or Client 2.0: The Street-Level Bureaucrat and Engagement 2.0—Ten Years Later
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Bill Brantley September 12, 2020
[I am updating a column I wrote in 2010. Recent events involving civil unrest have shed new light on the role of street-level bureaucrats, especially police officers and first responders.]
I started my government career as a street-level bureaucrat. In the summer of 1990, I was a paralegal intern for the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy in the Richmond, Kentucky office. The office covered four counties. My job was to interview the clients that had been arrested and jailed. I would spend the morning in the jail interviewing clients and the afternoons writing up reports and doing legal research. The average caseload for our attorneys was between 200 to 250 cases a year. This experience led to my lifelong interest in street-level bureaucracies (SLB).
What is a Street-Level Bureaucrat?
What makes an SLB different from other government employees is that SLBs have immediate and direct contact with the public. SLBs are the people who bring policy to citizens. Most government employees are street-level bureaucrats such as police officers, teachers, social workers and first responders. Michael Lipsky observed that these government employees are charged with administering an increasing set of policies and laws to a growing population while facing shrinking budgets and resources.
Street-level bureaucrats (SLB) have devised several methods to cope with their jobs (see the 1979 book, People-processing: The street-level bureaucrat in public service bureaucracies by J.M Prottas). The SLB picks the rules they will follow because to follow every rule that comes down would immobilize the agency. The SLB trains the citizens it meets into becoming good clients who make life easier for the SLB by being compliant and not causing extra work. The most significant advantage that the SLBs have is their superior knowledge of the rules and processes through which SLBs can punish or reward clients by withholding or supplying information. Even though SLBs must exercise as little discretion as possible in fulfilling the agency’s objectives, they carve out a good deal of autonomy by deciding which rules and procedures to follow.
How Social Networking Tools Have Changed the World of SLBs
Social networking technologies (SNT) have had two significant impacts on the autonomy of SLBs. First, SNTs have erased the information advantage that the SLB has over clients. Think of how SNTs have influenced car buying, medicine, law and so many other areas. There is a large market out there for the person who writes a Dummies guide to the local welfare office or releases an app to help a citizen negotiate applying for aid. I remember how empowered I felt when I first gained online access to my bank account and could see the same information the bank clerk saw as we spoke on the phone. The SLBs will lose a great deal of discretion when faced with a group of empowered clients who know the process and their rights even better than the SLBs.
The second impact is the spotlight on the SLB’s autonomy. Smartphone video, Twitter, Facebook and similar tools have captured SLBs such as police officers abusing their authority against minorities. Data-driven investigative techniques have investigated the records of SLBs to discover patterns of arbitrary decisionmaking. High-profile deaths have led to calls to defund police departments. Raids in the immigrant communities have caused many citizens to question the legitimacy of Immigration Control and Enforcement. SNTs have allowed citizens to record areas of the SLBs’ world, which had long lain hidden. SLBs are rapidly losing their power to determine which rules and processes they will follow.
The Benefits of Social Networking Technologies for Street-Level Bureaucrats
These same social networking technologies can significantly benefit the SLB. A large part of the work is screening the client, which could be done through an automated process, thus freeing the SLB to deal with the exceptional cases (you can see this already in some jurisdictions). Another benefit is for SLBs to form online communities where they can receive guidance from their peers while working with clients.
The performance management tools will provide an objective view of the burdens SLBs work under and may discourage management from producing so many rules and erasing existing rules. We are still determining the impacts of the social networking technologies. 2020, with the switch to remote working and racial unrest, has demonstrated the power of social networking technologies in reshaping government and how citizens interact with their government. Watching the rise of social networking technologies over the last decade has given us a new type of SLB as well as helping clients discover new independence and powers.
Author: Bill Brantley teaches at the University of Louisville and the University of Maryland. He also works as a Federal employee for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All opinions are his own and do not reflect the views of his employers. You can reach him at http://billbrantley.com.
Citizen 2.0 or Client 2.0: The Street-Level Bureaucrat and Engagement 2.0—Ten Years Later
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Bill Brantley
September 12, 2020
[I am updating a column I wrote in 2010. Recent events involving civil unrest have shed new light on the role of street-level bureaucrats, especially police officers and first responders.]
I started my government career as a street-level bureaucrat. In the summer of 1990, I was a paralegal intern for the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy in the Richmond, Kentucky office. The office covered four counties. My job was to interview the clients that had been arrested and jailed. I would spend the morning in the jail interviewing clients and the afternoons writing up reports and doing legal research. The average caseload for our attorneys was between 200 to 250 cases a year. This experience led to my lifelong interest in street-level bureaucracies (SLB).
What is a Street-Level Bureaucrat?
What makes an SLB different from other government employees is that SLBs have immediate and direct contact with the public. SLBs are the people who bring policy to citizens. Most government employees are street-level bureaucrats such as police officers, teachers, social workers and first responders. Michael Lipsky observed that these government employees are charged with administering an increasing set of policies and laws to a growing population while facing shrinking budgets and resources.
Street-level bureaucrats (SLB) have devised several methods to cope with their jobs (see the 1979 book, People-processing: The street-level bureaucrat in public service bureaucracies by J.M Prottas). The SLB picks the rules they will follow because to follow every rule that comes down would immobilize the agency. The SLB trains the citizens it meets into becoming good clients who make life easier for the SLB by being compliant and not causing extra work. The most significant advantage that the SLBs have is their superior knowledge of the rules and processes through which SLBs can punish or reward clients by withholding or supplying information. Even though SLBs must exercise as little discretion as possible in fulfilling the agency’s objectives, they carve out a good deal of autonomy by deciding which rules and procedures to follow.
How Social Networking Tools Have Changed the World of SLBs
Social networking technologies (SNT) have had two significant impacts on the autonomy of SLBs. First, SNTs have erased the information advantage that the SLB has over clients. Think of how SNTs have influenced car buying, medicine, law and so many other areas. There is a large market out there for the person who writes a Dummies guide to the local welfare office or releases an app to help a citizen negotiate applying for aid. I remember how empowered I felt when I first gained online access to my bank account and could see the same information the bank clerk saw as we spoke on the phone. The SLBs will lose a great deal of discretion when faced with a group of empowered clients who know the process and their rights even better than the SLBs.
The second impact is the spotlight on the SLB’s autonomy. Smartphone video, Twitter, Facebook and similar tools have captured SLBs such as police officers abusing their authority against minorities. Data-driven investigative techniques have investigated the records of SLBs to discover patterns of arbitrary decisionmaking. High-profile deaths have led to calls to defund police departments. Raids in the immigrant communities have caused many citizens to question the legitimacy of Immigration Control and Enforcement. SNTs have allowed citizens to record areas of the SLBs’ world, which had long lain hidden. SLBs are rapidly losing their power to determine which rules and processes they will follow.
The Benefits of Social Networking Technologies for Street-Level Bureaucrats
These same social networking technologies can significantly benefit the SLB. A large part of the work is screening the client, which could be done through an automated process, thus freeing the SLB to deal with the exceptional cases (you can see this already in some jurisdictions). Another benefit is for SLBs to form online communities where they can receive guidance from their peers while working with clients.
The performance management tools will provide an objective view of the burdens SLBs work under and may discourage management from producing so many rules and erasing existing rules. We are still determining the impacts of the social networking technologies. 2020, with the switch to remote working and racial unrest, has demonstrated the power of social networking technologies in reshaping government and how citizens interact with their government. Watching the rise of social networking technologies over the last decade has given us a new type of SLB as well as helping clients discover new independence and powers.
Author: Bill Brantley teaches at the University of Louisville and the University of Maryland. He also works as a Federal employee for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All opinions are his own and do not reflect the views of his employers. You can reach him at http://billbrantley.com.
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