Street-Level Bureaucrats and the Welfare State: Toward a Micro-Institutionalist Theory of Policy Implementation. (November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rice, Deborah
• Is Part Of: Administration & society. Volume 45:Number 9(2013)
• Page Start: 1038
• Page End: 1062
• Publication Date: 2013-11
• Subjects: social policy -- policy implementation -- welfare governance -- activation -- micro-institutionalism; Public administration -- Periodicals; 351
• DOI: 10.1177/0095399712451895
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0095-3997

Abstract

In the era of "activation, " which is characterized by the decentralization and individualization of social services, welfare caseworkers play an increasingly important role in shaping the policy outcomes of the welfare state. In this article, it is argued that to theoretically accommodate the complex institutional and systemic environments in which today's caseworkers operate, the street-level bureaucracy approach introduced by Lipsky should be married with institutionalist theory, thereby laying the groundwork for a micro-institutionalist theory of policy implementation.