Abstract

This paper interrogates concepts of street-level and ‘front-line’ bureaucracy/ practice/ working/ organising by reviewing a number of distinct literatures. It questions the distinction between public and private service, and argues that front-line practice involves a type of co-production, based on public encounters, building relationships, and multi-service coordination and management. It emphasises that the responsibility of front-line workers is primarily to those who pay them for what they do, and only secondarily to those they serve. Nevertheless, front-line workers have to manage the relationships built in the course of their practice, and this management is potentially transformative of service users. The literature describes various ways in which front-line workers manage these relationships, but these ways remain insufficiently explored or understood. The paper further discusses whether front-line practice strengthens or weakens democracy, and concludes with an attempt to understand why front-line practice continues to be dominated by more powerful forces.