Implementation Regimes and Street-Level Bureaucrats

A natural experiment in the implementation of Danish employment policy provides the basis for examining differences between central and local governmental provision of services. Since 2003 national employment policy for unemployed persons has been implemented through both the national Public Employment Service (central government provision) and through relatively autonomous municipalities (local government provision). Our research is based on nationwide surveys of caseworkers from these entities. Greater ownership of national policy reform and direct lines of authority within central-government regimes foster greater policy commitment, attention to rules, and adherence among frontline workers than is the case for a local-government implementation regime. These lead to actions of street-level bureaucrats in central-government regimes that are more in line with national policies than those of frontline workers in local governments, although these differences on average are not large.