Episode Overview

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Nick Cheeseman
Guest: Mike Rowe, Senior Lecturer in Public Sector Management, University of Liverpool
Book Discussed: Researching Street-Level Bureaucracy: Bringing Out the Interpretive Dimensions (Routledge, 2024)
Date: October 1, 2025

This episode explores the concept of street-level bureaucracy—frontline public service work where discretion, interpretation, and context shape encounters between officials and citizens. Mike Rowe draws on both foundational theory and his own ethnographic experience (primarily in the UK civil service and police) to elaborate the complexity inherent in street-level decision-making and the interpretive research approaches best suited for understanding it.

Key Topics and Discussion Points

1. Defining Street-Level Bureaucracy

• Origin of the Concept:
  • The concept has roots in the late 1960s, with Michael Lipsky's seminal 1980 book Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services as the foundational text ([02:16]).
  • The concept refers to frontline public officials whose discretionary decisions bring policy to life in real-world encounters with citizens.
• Complexity Beyond ‘Obvious’ Discretion:
  • Rowe notes many people assume the term is self-explanatory, but Lipsky’s work “got away from the simple idea of bureaucrats as following instructions or being self-interested manipulators and budget maximizers and actually described a world that I kind of recognize” ([04:08], Rowe).

2. Context and the Importance of Interpretive Methods

• The Limits of Variable-Driven Research:
  • Quantitative studies focusing on demographics or motivation “miss the point that places the locus of decision making in the individual's head alone” and overlook context ([06:20], Rowe).
• Ethnography as Key:
  • Ethnography and familiarity with the field reveal the nuanced ways discretion operates—how, for instance, small, unofficial actions by clerks or even security guards make a system function ([07:11]).
  • “I’m not arguing that you have to do ethnography if you’re going to understand street-level bureaucrats... But if you have personal experience or have gained familiarity in some way, then that helps you...” ([13:36], Rowe).

3. Familiarity and Insiders/Outsiders

• Reconsidering the Ethnographic Ideal:
  • Familiarity with the setting (gained through long-term presence, prior experience, or repeated engagement) provides insight beyond the “well-told stories” of traditional interviews ([13:36]).
  • Rowe suggests a move away from a simple insider/outsider binary: “It’s not very helpful. So I guess, yeah, familiarity for me is an attempt to get past that. I’m not an insider in terms of the police and I’m not an outsider” ([15:36]).

4. Interpretive Dimensions and Change

• Interpretivist Approaches and Real-Time Change:
  • Interpretive methods help researchers understand how meaning is made—and how it changes over time and in response to organizational developments or contextual shifts ([16:22], [18:43]).
  • “Getting past the idea that you can go into the field and see something static, record it, write it up and move on, I would emphasize that things change all the time” ([16:22], Rowe).

5. Technology and the ‘Screen-Level Bureaucracy’

• Digitalization & New Complexities:
  • While “street-level” still matters, new technologies and AI shift the terrain, sometimes introducing more errors or exclusions—for instance, forms that inadvertently disqualify citizens due to rigid computerized protocols ([18:54]–[21:22]).
• Notable Example:
  • “If you want this help, you’ve got to answer in this way. And I think also we can’t codify rules in computer code if we can’t write bureaucratic rules that encompass all situations in legislation and procedures. What makes us think computer programmers can do it?” ([21:50], Rowe).

6. Impact and Researcher Role

• Research-Informed Change:
  • Rowe discusses how interpretive research—like recording unmonitored vehicle stops by police—can prompt policy changes ([24:34], [26:25]).
  • “Much police action was being driven by, to use a pun, vehicle stops... and it’s quite interesting that that’s led to change, that there are now recording vehicle stops. So, yeah, we’re perhaps surprised that that was taken up, but that insight has led to changes in processes and procedures.” ([24:34], Rowe)
• Meaning-Making and Intervention:
  • Researchers help clarify where interventions break down, such as when managerial “solutions” (e.g., poorly received training videos) fail due to misunderstandings at the front line ([29:11]).
  • “They thought from their vantage point how to change officers, but didn’t understand how they were heard... If you want to change the way officers think about it, you’ve got to put some effort into it. You can’t just do a video.” ([29:11]–[30:36], Rowe).

7. Global and Comparative Perspectives

• Expanding Beyond the Global North:
  • Rowe acknowledges the book’s initial Euro-American focus, pointing to new and valuable research emerging from places like Bougainville and Latin America ([31:35]).
  • These contexts can make dilemmas of discretion even more stark, for instance, when eligibility for aid is tied to politically manipulated electoral registers ([31:35], [33:29]).

8. Defining Discretion—Authority, Corruption, Context

• Authorized vs. Unauthorized Discretion:
  • Rowe distinguishes authorized discretion (“legitimate authority to make judgments in these particular circumstances”) from abuse (corruption, violence) ([27:28]).
  • Managerial discretion (e.g., closing a police station) operates very differently from frontline discretion about individual cases ([27:28]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the enduring importance of the concept:

  • “Bureaucracy’s alive and kicking. Yes, it is computerized very much. But actually I think that makes it more important to focus on where discretion lies.” ([18:54], Rowe)

• Advice, half in jest, regarding “screen-level” policing:

  • “If you’re going to take cocaine in the streets... aim for the end of the police shift and then you’ll be probably safe.” ([11:44], Rowe, humor)

• On ethnography and insight:

  • “I’m not arguing that you have to do ethnography if you’re going to understand street-level bureaucrats... But if you have personal experience or have gained familiarity in some way, then that helps you...” ([13:36], Rowe)

• On attempts at organizational change:

  • “They rolled out a training video... I observed that video with some officers and recorded their reactions to it, which was largely confusion, and reported this back to senior officers who then thought the next step would be to do an online webinar... which provoked more confusion.” ([29:11], Rowe)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:37 — Show introduction, overview of series, guest introduction
• 02:16 — Defining “street-level bureaucracy” and history
• 04:08 — Why Lipsky’s concept is more complex than it appears
• 06:20 — Why interpretive, contextual methodologies matter
• 07:11 — Rowe’s own experience as a street-level bureaucrat; value of ethnography
• 09:37 — Ethnographic fieldwork with police; context around discretion in action
• 13:36 — The value of familiarity, inside/outside fieldwork perspectives
• 16:22 — Interpretive methods, fieldwork, and change over time
• 18:54 — The impact of technology; “screen-level bureaucracy”
• 21:50 — Limits of digitalization; discretion persists
• 24:34 — Role of researchers; influencing policy, e.g., vehicle stops data
• 27:28 — The difference between street-level and managerial discretion
• 29:11 — Examples of miscommunication between management and frontline staff
• 31:35 — Street-level bureaucracy in non-Western/global South contexts
• 33:29 — Problems of discretion and authority across varying contexts
• 35:59 — Rowe’s current research and writing interests
• 36:41 — Book recommendations for listeners

Further Reading and Recommendations (from the Guest)

• James Scott, In Praise of Floods
  “It just takes his ideas and... stretches them a bit outside his normal terrain.” ([36:41])
• Joshua Ferris, Then We Came to the End (office politics fiction)
  “Lots of little scenes that don’t string together as a storyline as such to start with. But then the storyline is beginning to emerge, which I find quite interesting as a style of writing.” ([36:41])

Episode Takeaways

• Street-level bureaucracy is a complex, interpretive, and evolving field of study, still vital despite digitalization.
• Familiarity and context matter—ethnography is valuable, but deep familiarity can be developed through other means.
• Research is not just observation: It can prompt changes in practice and policy by revealing how discretion, meaning, and miscommunication actually unfold.
• Global perspectives are important, with new research expanding the conversation beyond its traditional, Western-centric focus.

Final Thoughts

This episode offers listeners a rich, practice-based, and theoretically informed dive into street-level bureaucracy. Whether you're researching public administration, interpretive methods, or the sociological aspects of frontline work, Rowe’s insights provide an up-to-date and nuanced understanding of a classic but still-evolving field.