liu.seSearch for publications in DiVA
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • oxford
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Context matters—different entrepreneurial approaches among street‐level bureaucrats enhancing digital inclusion
Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Unit of Political Science, Department of Management Linkoping University Linköping Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9905-0942
Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Political Science. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
2023 (English)In: European Policy Analysis, E-ISSN 2380-6567, Vol. 9, no 4, p. 379-396Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Digital technology is frequently used in the delivery of public services. Since not everyone has the skills or digital access required to use such digital services, street-level bureaucrats must find new ways to support citizens to be able to enhance digital inclusion. In most public settings, these new practices of digital support need to be developed in parallel with the street-level bureaucrats' ordinary assignments. This article analyses the development of street-level bureaucrats' entrepreneurial and innovative practices in promoting digital inclusion in two spheres: conventional welfare service provision and in a project-based welfare service provision initiative explicitly intended to enhance digital inclusion. The article builds on qualitative case studies in municipalities in Sweden and demonstrates that there are more openings for innovative, entrepreneurial solutions among street-level bureaucrats in the more project-based setting than in the conventional welfare services. This implies that context matters for street-level entrepreneurial approaches.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc., 2023. Vol. 9, no 4, p. 379-396
Keywords [en]
entrepreneurial approaches, street-level bureaucrats, digital inclusion, municipalities, Sweden
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-198932DOI: 10.1002/epa2.1197ISI: 001095801300001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85175706315OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-198932DiVA, id: diva2:1809401
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas
Note

Funding: We are grateful to all the informants that have experiences and reflections upon their work and to the national Digidel network. We also thank the Carl Bennett foundation and the research council FORMAS for generous funding to our research.; Carl Bennett foundation; research council FORMAS

Available from: 2023-11-03 Created: 2023-11-03 Last updated: 2025-01-07Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Please Handle with Discretion: Discretionary boundaries of street-level bureaucrats working for digital inclusion
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Please Handle with Discretion: Discretionary boundaries of street-level bureaucrats working for digital inclusion
2025 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Alternative title[sv]
Gränser för handlingsutrymmet i närbyråkraters arbete för digital inkludering
Abstract [en]

During rapid changes in the digital era, there is a need to understand changes at the micro level, close to the citizen, where policy is enacted, reiterated and, sometimes, subtly changed. By studying how street-level bureaucrats support clients in need of help to be digitally active, this thesis contributes to the understanding of two interlinked concepts. Firstly, it compares street-level discretion in different digitalising micro-institutional settings and analyses how street-level discretionary boundaries evolve when digitalisation adds layers to already restricting frames and circumstances. Secondly, it sheds light on the constraining aspects of these boundaries and explores the concept ‘digital cage’ related to street-level discretion. This concept builds on Weber’s ‘iron cage’ and refers to excluding digital infrastructure that, among other things, could limit street-level discretion.

The thesis uses a bottom-up approach based on the bureaucrats’ daily experiences. Street-level bureaucrats’ descriptions of their changing discretionary boundaries are analysed using micro-institutional theory with a special focus on street-level bureaucracy theory. It is a compilation thesis based on a cover paper and four research papers that focus on street-level bureaucracy in different settings, such as schools, libraries, social services, adult education and employment units, cases of how Swedish street-level bureaucrats view and handle their discretion when they work for digital inclusion of clients. The research process is based on qualitative and abductive studies. The data collection consists of interviews, survey answers and documents from different increasingly digitalised settings within Swedish local bureaucracy.

The overall conclusions show that the street-level bureaucrats experience significant changes in what they do and how they do it. They form new roles towards clients and adapt to new boundaries. Boundaries framing street-level discretion in the studied micro settings can be divided into boundaries related to policy and management, skill sets and access possibilities, perceptions of appropriateness in the eyes of others, and digital systems and tools. The analysis shows that new digital boundaries have a restricting, caging, effect. Since this digital cage constrains street-level discretion in new ways, there is a need to develop and further analyse competences and practices in micro-institutional settings. However, it should also be acknowledged that the caging effect, in combination with ambitious goals for digital inclusion, create frustration among the street-level bureaucrats since they feel pushed to work towards a level of digital inclusion that they deem impossible to attain.

Abstract [sv]

Under snabba förändringar i en digital samtid uppstår behov av att förstå förändringar på mikronivå, nära medborgaren, där politik görs, upprepas och ibland subtilt förändras. Genom att studera hur närbyråkrater stödjer personer som behöver hjälp med digitala verktyg, bidrar denna avhandling till förståelsen av två sammanlänkade begrepp. För det första analyseras närbyråkraternas handlingsutrymme i olika digitaliserade miljöer där digitaliseringen lägger till lager till redan begränsande ramar och omständigheter. För det andra belyser avhandlingen de begränsande aspekterna av detta och utforskar begreppet den digitala buren. Detta begrepp bygger på Webers så kallade järnbur och syftar på exkluderande digital infrastruktur som bland annat kan begränsa handlingsutrymmet i närbyråkratin.

Avhandlingen är baserad på närbyråkraternas dagliga erfarenheter och hur de ser på och hanterar sitt handlingsutrymme i arbetet för medborgarnas digitala inkludering. Deras beskrivningar av vad de kan och inte kan göra för medborgarna analyseras med hjälp av mikroinstitutionell teori med särskilt fokus på närbyråkratiteori. Sammanläggningsavhandlingen består av en kappa och fyra artiklar och fokuserar på närbyråkrati i olika miljöer, såsom skolor, bibliotek, socialtjänst, vuxenutbildning och arbetsmarknadsenheter. Forsknings-processen bygger på kvalitativa metoder och datainsamlingen består av intervjuer, enkätsvar och dokument från olika alltmer digitaliserade miljöer inom den svenska lokala närbyråkratin.

De övergripande slutsatserna visar att närbyråkraterna upplever betydande förändringar av vad de gör och hur de gör det. De formar nya roller gentemot medborgare och anpassar sig till nya gränser. De gränser som ramar in handlingsutrymmet i de studerade miljöerna kan delas in i gränser relaterade till policy och ledning, färdigheter och åtkomst, uppfattningar om vad som är lämpligt samt digitala system och verktyg. Analysen visar att nya digitala gränser har en instängande effekt. Eftersom denna digitala bur begränsar handlingsutrymmet på nya sätt finns det ett behov av att utveckla och ytterligare analysera kompetenser och praxis i mikroinstitutionella miljöer. Det bör understrykas att den inburande effekten, i kombination med ambitiösa mål för digital inkludering, skapar frustration bland närbyråkrater eftersom de känner sig pressade att arbeta för en digital inkluderingsnivå som de kan se som omöjlig att uppnå.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press, 2025. p. 128
Series
Linköping Studies in Arts and Sciences, ISSN 0282-9800 ; 902
Keywords
Street-level bureaucracy, Digitalisation, Digital inclusion, Discretionary boundaries, Digital cage, Närbyråkrati, Digitalisering, Digital inkludering, Handlingsutrymme, Den digitala buren
National Category
Work Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-210612 (URN)10.3384/9789180759694 (DOI)9789180759687 (ISBN)9789180759694 (ISBN)
Public defence
2025-02-21, ACAS, A-building, Campus Valla, Linköping, 13:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2025-01-07 Created: 2025-01-07 Last updated: 2025-01-17Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

Context matters(290 kB)82 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 290 kBChecksum SHA-512
ee882cb66fda2874dbb570a58f8490d63e759409e9103537c9a69356ec198709244d45c9f8a9bcb113f4ce2599efa799837293b90f01ed1b54c3f0aaf5d082f0
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Wihlborg, ElinIacobaeus, Helena

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Wihlborg, ElinIacobaeus, Helena
By organisation
Political ScienceFaculty of Arts and Sciences
In the same journal
European Policy Analysis
Political Science

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 82 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 435 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • oxford
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf