Blaming the bureaucrat: Does perceived blame risk influence inspectors’ enforcement style?
| Autor: | Erik-Hans Klijn, Noortje de Boer, Alette Eva Opperhuizen, Jasper Eshuis |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | Public Administration |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Public Administration
Sociology and Political Science media_common.quotation_subject 05 social sciences 0506 political science Style (sociolinguistics) Blame Perception 0502 economics and business 050602 political science & public administration Relation (history of concept) Psychology Enforcement Social psychology 050203 business & management media_common |
| Zdroj: | International Review of Administrative Sciences, 88(2), 283-301. SAGE Publications Ltd |
| ISSN: | 0020-8523 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/0020852319899433 |
| Popis: | Is there a relation between street-level bureaucrats’ enforcement style and their perception of the risk of getting blamed? This article answers this question on the basis of a survey ( n = 507) among inspectors of the Netherlands Food and Product Safety Authority. We included perceived media attention on their work as a factor that might influence street-level bureaucrats’ perception of blame risk and their enforcement style. Three dimensions of enforcement style were distinguished from earlier research: legal, facilitative and accommodative. We found that when inspectors perceive more blame risk, they employ a slightly less legal style and, instead, employ a more accommodative style. Thus, they act a little less formally and less coercively (i.e. legal) and take greater account of their peers’ opinions (i.e. accommodative). However, perceived media attention did not have a significant influence on enforcement style. Points for practitioners 1. When inspectors perceive more blame risk, they tend to pay more attention to the opinion of peers (other inspectors, supervisors, etc.). 2. Blame risk does not lead to the use of a more formal inspection style. 3. Media attention does not play an important role in enhancing the blame risk perception of inspectors. 4. This media and blame risk is less important than often found in the case of politicians. This may be connected to the fact that the work of inspectors as street-level bureaucrats is less visible to the wider public (and the media). |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|