Abstract

What are the implications of governmental responses to crises for street-level implementation? The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to compare the formal role that decision-makers require of street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) during a crisis. Textual analysis of 36 legislative documents and emergency regulations in Israel indicates that the additional duties assigned to police officers, teachers, and physicians reflect three interrelated changes in street-level implementation: increased policy ambiguity, higher risk exposure, and expanded discretion. Decision-makers’ expectations of SLBs during a crisis highlight the inherent limit of policy-as-written to account for the operational, action-imperative essence of on-the-ground service delivery.Note: In the interests of space, street-level theory and the pandemic context underpinning the articles for this Special Issue are discussed in detail in the Introduction to the Issue.

抽象的

政府对危机的反应对街头实施有何影响？COVID-19大流行病提供了一个难得的机会，可以比较决策者在危机期间对街头官僚（SLB）所要求的正式角色。对以色列36份立法文件和紧急法规的文本分析表明，分配给警官，教师和医生的额外职责反映了街道一级实施的三个相互关联的变化：加大了政策上的歧义，更大的风险敞口和更大的酌处权。在危机期间，决策者对SLB的期望突显了书面政策固有的局限性，以说明实地服务交付的操作性，必须采取行动的本质。注意：为了空间的利益，本期特刊的文章详细讨论了街头理论和流行背景。