Frontline agencies award scarce resources to clients who threaten disruption.

Evidence

Emergency procedures permit street-level bureaucrats to provide resources to those who threaten the smooth functioning of the agency. For those who complain or object to the way they are treated, emergency procedures serve as safety valves to deal with contentious, potentially trouble- Controlling Clients and the Work Situation some situations. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1029

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the commercial-bourse finding that group reputation and the credible threat of exit discipline otherwise unaccountable intermediaries. — connects to: Bureaucrats concentrate scarce resources on clients deemed salvageable — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 780; Clients can extract concessions through the scarce resource of workers’ time — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 448; Frontline workers penalize clients who disrupt their preferred procedures. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 1103 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Clients can extract concessions through the scarce resource of workers’ time #expands (0.85) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 448
• Frontline workers penalize clients who disrupt their preferred procedures. #complicates (0.80) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1103