Abstract

Street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) nowadays provide services under conditions of increased demand for public services coupled with scarcer financial resources. The literature that focuses on how workers adapt to this situation mainly examines their provision of formal resources as part of their job. What researchers have not systematically examined is the delivery of informal personal resources (IFRs) by street-level workers to clients. Understanding the provision of IFRs is particularly important when “no one is fully in charge” of public services. Drawing on 214 in-depth qualitative interviews with SLBs who provide education, health, and welfare services in the public sector in Israel, we found a remarkable range of IFRs they provided to clients. We also found that four main factors influencing the provision of IFRs: lack of formal resources; professional commitment; managerial encouragement; and a work environment whose values combine old and new approaches to public service. The findings contribute to the public administration literature by exposing how public service function in a somewhat vague reality, and they contribute to the SLB literature by highlighting the unrecognized component of informal service provision.

中文翻译：

---

谁负责？在街道一级提供非正式的个人资源

摘要

如今，街头官僚（SLB）在对公共服务的需求增加以及财政资源匮乏的条件下提供服务。着重于工人如何适应这种情况的文献主要考察了他们提供的正式资源作为工作的一部分。研究人员尚未系统检查的是街头工人向客户提供的非正式个人资源（IFR）。当“没有人完全负责”公共服务时，了解IFR的提供尤其重要。通过对在以色列公共部门提供教育，健康和福利服务的SLB进行的214次深入的定性访谈，我们发现了他们为客户提供的各种IFR。我们还发现，影响IFR提供的四个主要因素是：缺乏正式资源；缺乏正式资源。专业承诺；管理上的鼓励；一个工作环境，其价值观结合了新旧公共服务方法。这些发现通过揭露公共服务在某种模糊的现实中的功能而为公共行政文学做出了贡献，并通过强调非正式服务提供中未被认可的组成部分而为SLB文学做出了贡献。