What Motivates Street-level Bureaucrats to Implement the Reforms of Elected Politicians?

Lee, Don S; Park, Soonae

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore the motivations of street-level bureaucrats when implementing change initiated by elected politicians. We analyse experimental data on more than 1,800 local civil servants from all 243 local governments in South Korea and find that street-level bureaucrats are more likely to implement change instigated by local elected politicians when their own policy positions are reflected in the reforms. Moreover, the degree to which street-level bureaucrats are likely to execute reforms instigated by local politicians is greater when bureaucrats perceive themselves as having more freedom to exercise discretion. These findings reveal a behavioural insight into the conditions in which bureaucrats are more likely to respond to change championed by elected politicians versus conditions where they are more likely to follow existing rules in the policy implementation process.

Citation

Lee, D. S., & Park, S. (2021). What Motivates Street-level Bureaucrats to Implement the Reforms of Elected Politicians?. Policy and Politics, 49(1), 141-160. https://doi.org/10.1332/030557320X15955052478653

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 23, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Aug 27, 2020
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jul 24, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 28, 2021
• Journal: Policy & Politics
• Print ISSN: 0305-5736
• Publisher: Policy Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 141-160
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/030557320X15955052478653
• Keywords: Street-level Bureaucrats; Bureaucratic Discretion; Behavioural Public Policy; Survey Experiment, Policy Implementation, Local Government, South Korea, Reforms
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4784944
• Publisher URL: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/pap/pre-prints/content-policypold1900090
• Additional Information: This is a post-acceptance, post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of an article published in Policy & Politics and should not be cited.; ; The definitive publisher-authenticated version of Lee, D. and Park, S. (2020) What motivates street-level bureaucrats to implement the reforms of elected politicians? is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1332/030557320X15955052478653