Workers shrink their own authority to escape responsibility for outcomes.
Evidence
Street-level bureaucrats sometimes cope with their jobs by privately modifYing the scope of their authority. Imposing restrictions on the scope of their powers frees street-level bureaucrats from perceived responsibility for outcomes and reduces the strain between resources and obj“‘ctives. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1096
Categorization
- XREF: Links to the role-tension and coping literature the reader is using to model how discretion contracts under strain. — connects to: Individual autonomy shrinks as objectified labour displaces living labour. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 570; Managerialist bureaucracy works as intended by weakening labour and worker autonomy — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1493; Post-Fordist restructuring was partly driven by workers’ own desires for freedom — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 2100 (+1 more)
- DEFINE: Names self-imposed limits on authority as a distinct coping mechanism, useful for pinning down ‘discretion’ operationally.
Broader Connections
- Post-Fordist restructuring was partly driven by workers’ own desires for freedom
#complicates(0.80) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2100 - Individual autonomy shrinks as objectified labour displaces living labour.
#qualifies(0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 570 - Managerialist bureaucracy works as intended by weakening labour and worker autonomy
#complicates(0.75) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1493 - Bureaucratic compartmentalization structurally enables individuals to evade responsibility for harm.
#complicates(0.75) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 567