Professionals at street level. Tensions and challenges in the process of implementing social policies

Abstract

The implementation of social policies depends on a large number of actors and professional teams from public, private and civil society institutions. Particularly relevant is the role played by the so-called “street level bureaucrats” who strongly influence both the implementation process and the policy results, mainly when it is analysed from an interpretive approach. This article, based on a bibliographic review, aims to analyse the theoretical debates around the role of bureaucrats at the street level, account for their centrality in the implementation of policies and the tensions that implied the exercise of its autonomy and discretion. In this way, some challenges to adequately manage the work of street-level bureaucrats in the implementation of social policies were also identified.