When attitude matters - A study of the influence of street-level bureaucratic implementation behaviour in the field of conflict-ridden employment policies

Abstract: When street-level bureaucrats implement conflict-ridden policies in the field of cash benefits, attitude matters. This thesis illustrates that through several interviews with caseworkers working in various jobcentres in Danish municipalities and implementing ‘Jobreform fase 1’. ‘Jobreform fase 1’ is a Danish reform containing a so-called ‘ceiling’ to the cash benefits and a 225-hour rul. It was found that the genesis of ‘Jobreform fase 1’ was highly conflict-ridden, both in relation to the left-right political spectrum and relevant influential actors. Four different behavioural rationalities were discovered when investigating how the street-level bureaucrats implemented the reform. These behavioural rationalities identified different motivations to implement and showed how the street-level bureaucrats’ loyalty targeted either the clients or legal and political system and that this had an impact on their will to implement the reform. Moreover, they were bound up by the attitude of the street-level bureaucrat and how that related to their implementation-behaviour, and thereby influence on the result of the implementation.