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The cover of Street Level Bureaucracy

Street Level Bureaucracy

Michael Lipsky

Discover how public policy becomes real in classrooms, welfare offices, and police encounters, and why workers' judgment matters when rules and resources fall short.

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15 parts, about 29 minutes to read.

At a glance

Author
Michael Lipsky
Parts
15 parts
Reading time
about 29 minutes
The whole book
Also to read in full

What the summary covers

  1. When a citizen meets the state1 min
  2. Discretion at the front line2 min
  3. Why rules cannot settle every case2 min
  4. The working conditions behind the choices2 min
  5. Conflicting goals and uncertain measures2 min
  6. How a person becomes a client2 min
  7. The promise and strain of personal care1 min
  8. Routines that ration access3 min
  9. Who receives the scarce service2 min
  10. Controlling the encounter2 min
  11. Making an impossible job bearable2 min
  12. Accountability and the quality problem2 min
  13. What a wider society asks of public service1 min
  14. Reforming the work itself2 min
  15. Managing discretion in the expanded edition3 min

Read it alongside

  • Puts it into practiceNoise: A Flaw in Human Judgment

    Lipsky supports front line judgment through shared case review. Kahneman, Sibony and Sunstein give a sequence: separate assessments, record independent ratings before discussion, and delay the overall intuitive judgment.

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