Lippsky Street-Level Bureaucracy

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Abstract In Mr. Lipsky’s (1980 publication of Street-level bureaucracy: dilemmas of the individuals in public service he described those “public service workers who interact directly with the citizens in the course of their jobs and who have substantial discretion in the execution of their work”, as street-level bureaucrats. (Lipsky, 2010, p.3) Throughout the text Mr. Lipsky touched on some very key points as it pertains to the community and the contributions that these street-level bureaucrats possess and I cannot help but to agree wholeheartedly with his assessment. In this paper, I will discuss the individuals that make the policies that are being implemented as well as those individuals that are being held accountable for seeing these policies …show more content…

He refers to managers as those individuals “interested in achieving results consistent with agency objectives”. (p.18) Lipsky expresses that the manager is ‘result oriented’, meaning these individuals implement each policy and sees that they are all fulfilled from start to finish. They have now problem with going against the grain and will do everything in their power to accomplish the task. Most street-level bureaucrats believe that if the task is completed how you got the result is not important. Lipsky believes that the manager is unselfish and the street-level bureaucrats are self-serving. I do agree with his observance of both managers and street-level bureaucrats in some aspects but I also believe that each case is different so to stereotype a group based on a few individuals is unfair in my …show more content…

He believes that holding individuals accountable doesn’t exactly pin point what the true issues are especially leaving a vague line between what superiors seek and what subordinates do. Lipsky’s definition touches on two very important aspects of accountability: the first being the relationship between people and groups he states that “one is always accountable to ‘one’ accountability is not abstract”; he believes that both parties should be specified in being held accountable so that there would leave no room for confusion. The second being the individual’s behavioral patterns as it pertains to accountability. He believes that accountability can be determined where behavioral patterns are present and predictable. In turn this means that accountability cannot succeed without changes or improvement of behavioral patterns. (Lipsky, 2010, p. 160) I agree with Lipsky’s opinion about accountability I believe that without implementing what one’s duties are and strictly enforcing them each you have no way to make someone take responsibility for the tasks

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