Research Handbook on Street-Level Bureaucracy

Edited by Peter Hupe, Visiting Professor, KU Leuven Public Governance Institute, Belgium

'Street level bureaucracy is an established concept in the social sciences, and it might be thought difficult to find anything new and important to say about the concept. This Research Handbook demonstrates that this assumption is most definitely untrue. By emphasizing street-level bureaucracy as the ''ground floor'' of government, Peter Hupe and his collaborators have provided a number of new insights into the behaviour and importance of those public servants who are in day-to-day contact with citizens. Anyone who wants to understand the impact of government on those citizens must read the articles in this volume.'--B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh, US'This Research Handbook maps the now-sprawling and diverse scholarly world of research on frontline work and the encounters between governing authority and the publics served, surveilled and disenfranchised. The Research Handbook is a ''Who's Who'' of international scholars exploring this territory and covers the full range of current topics, from theory to methods and emerging questions. It begins and ends with insightful essays by Peter Hupe, the editor. Hupe frames the diverse contributions of the Handbook authors while providing guideposts for future research. For students and scholars, this Research Handbook is essential reading, a touchstone.'--Steven Maynard-Moody, University of Kansas, US

• Contents:PrefacePart I Street-level bureaucracy as a scholarly theme1. Contextualizing government-in-actionPeter Hupe2. Positioning street-level bureaucracy researchPeter Hupe and Michael Hill3. Conceptualizing street-level bureaucracy in contextPeter HupePart II Theoretical issues in street-level bureaucracy research4. Specifying the dependent variable in street-level bureaucracy researchLiesbeth Van Parys5. Adopting an institutional view in street-level bureaucracy researchDeborah Rice6. Street-level bureaucracy research and social inequalityGabriela Lotta and Roberto Pires7. Street-level bureaucracy research and the specification of national cultureMarie Østergaard Møller8. Discrimination and representation in street-level bureaucraciesNadine Raaphorst and Sandra Groeneveld9. Using drama to understand street-level practiceTony Evans10. Dealing with hybridization in street-level bureaucracy researchTanja Klenk and Nissim Cohen11. Street-level bureaucracy research and the impact of digital office technologiesMatilde Høybye-Mortensen 12. Street-level bureaucracy research and first-line supervisionPeter Hupe and Lael R. Keiser13. Street-level bureaucracy research and professionalismGitte Sommer Harrits14. Policy re-design from the street levelNissim Cohen and Tanja Klenk15. Street-level bureaucracy research and accountability beyond hierarchyEva Lieberherr and Eva Thomann16. Dealing with cross-countries variation in the comparative study of public administration and street-level bureaucracySabine Kuhlmann17. Explaining public task performancePeter Hupe Part III Methodological issues in street-level bureaucracy research18. Comparing public task performanceMichael Hill and Peter Hupe19. Mixed-methods designs in street-level bureaucracy researchCarina Schott and Daphne van Kleef20. Quantitative street-level bureaucracy researchNadine van Engen21. Qualitative data analysis in implementation and street-level bureaucracy researchAnka Kekez22. Levels of analysis in street-level bureaucracy researchAnat Gofen, Shelly Sella and Drorit Gassner23. Networks as unit of analysis in street-level bureaucracy researchKim Loyens24. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as a tool for street-level bureaucracy researchEva Thomann25. Using vignettes in street-level bureaucracy researchGitte Sommer HarritsPart IV New dimensions of studying street-level bureaucracy26. Street-level bureaucracy research across the borders of scholarly communitiesVivienne Byers27. Street-level bureaucracy research and the assessment of ethical conductHelena Olofsdotter Stensöta28. Street-level bureaucracy and democratic theoryBernardo Zacka Part V Conclusion29. Lessons for doing street-level bureaucracy researchPeter Hupe30. The ground floor of government in context: An agenda for street-level bureaucracy research. Peter Hupe Index