Street-level agencies pursue inherently conflicting, ambiguous goals
Evidence
Street-level bureaucrats characteristicatly work in jobs with conflicting and ambiguous goals. Is the role of the police to maintain order or to enforce the law? Is the role of public education to communicate social values, teach basic skills, or meet the needs of employers for a trained work force? Are the goals of public welfare to provide income support or decrease dependency? — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 332
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines the core ‘goal ambiguity’ concept that anchors the book’s analysis of street-level discretion.
- XREF: connects to: Ambiguous goals partly arise from competing community demands on street-level agencies. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 366; Vague agency goals reflect society’s own contradictions, not administrative sloppiness — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 1194; Ambiguous societal goals make street-level performance measurement nearly arbitrary — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 388 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Vague agency goals reflect society’s own contradictions, not administrative sloppiness
#expands(0.95) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1194 - Ambiguous goals partly arise from competing community demands on street-level agencies.
#expands(0.90) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 366 - Ambiguous societal goals make street-level performance measurement nearly arbitrary
#expands(0.85) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 388 - Ambiguous goals make some public jobs impossible to do properly by any standard
#expands(0.85) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 262