IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/policy/v56y2023i4d10.1007_s11077-023-09513-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When active representation is not enough: ethnic minority street-level workers in a divided society and policy entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Hani Nouman

    (University of Haifa)

  • Nissim Cohen

    (University of Haifa)

Abstract

Can street-level workers from an ethnic minority in a divided society act as policy entrepreneurs and affect policy design? How their shared values with the homogeneous local government play a role in enabling policy entrepreneurship? Active representation refers to bureaucrats promoting the interests of the clients with whom they share the same characteristics or background. The assumption is that the behaviour of the bureaucrats—rather than their background, per se—affects citizens’ responses. However, in such cases, although they are active, street-level workers are fighting to change outcomes within institutions established by others. With regard to Arab social workers in Israel, we provide a new perspective on how ethnic minority street-level workers in a divided society may go beyond active representation in an attempt to directly influence policy design as entrepreneurs. We also identify the conditions that drive policy entrepreneurship and the strategies used to accomplish these goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Hani Nouman & Nissim Cohen, 2023. "When active representation is not enough: ethnic minority street-level workers in a divided society and policy entrepreneurship," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(4), pages 777-795, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:56:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s11077-023-09513-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11077-023-09513-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11077-023-09513-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11077-023-09513-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rene R. Rocha & Daniel P. Hawes, 2009. "Racial Diversity, Representative Bureaucracy, and Equity in Multiracial School Districts," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 90(2), pages 326-344, June.
    2. Fritz Sager & Eva Thomann & Christine Zollinger & Nico van der Heiden & Céline Mavrot, 2014. "Street-level Bureaucrats and New Modes of Governance: How conflicting roles affect the implementation of the Swiss Ordinance on Veterinary Medicinal Products," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 481-502, May.
    3. Gwen Arnold, 2015. "Street-level policy entrepreneurship," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 307-327, March.
    4. Considine, Mark & Lewis, Jenny M. & O'Sullivan, Siobhan & Sol, Els, 2015. "Getting Welfare to Work: Street-Level Governance in Australia, the UK, and the Netherlands," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198743705.
    5. Gitte Sommer Harrits & Marie Østergaard Møller, 2014. "Prevention at the Front Line: How home nurses, pedagogues, and teachers transform public worry into decisions on special efforts," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 447-480, May.
    6. Keiser, Lael R. & Wilkins, Vicky M. & Meier, Kenneth J. & Holland, Catherine A., 2002. "Lipstick and Logarithms: Gender, Institutional Context, and Representative Bureaucracy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 96(3), pages 553-564, September.
    7. Robert Blackburn & Monder Ram, 2006. "Fix or fixation? The contributions and limitations of entrepreneurship and small firms to combating social exclusion," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 73-89, January.
    8. Angel Molina, 2016. "A Manager is a Manager is a Manager? Race and Managerial Impact on Organizational Performance," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 39-53, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sébastien Lambelet, 2023. "Unintended policy integration through entrepreneurship at the implementation stage," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(1), pages 161-189, March.
    2. Na Tang & Muyu He, 2023. "The times make a hero: Street‐level policy entrepreneurship in major crisis responses in China," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(4), pages 490-508, July.
    3. Lisa Hansson & Åsa Weinholt, 2019. "New Frontline Actors Emerging from Cross-Sector Collaboration: Examples from the Fire and Rescue Service Sector," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 519-539, December.
    4. Reinout Kleinhans & Maarten Van Ham, 2017. "The support paradox in community enterprise experiments in the Netherlands," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 31(4), pages 570-589.
    5. Diana Moreira & Santiago Pérez, 2022. "Who Benefits from Meritocracy?," NBER Working Papers 30113, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Julia Rouse & Dilani Jayawarna, 2011. "Structures of Exclusion from Enterprise Finance," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 29(4), pages 659-676, August.
    7. Folorunsho M. Ajide & James T. Dada, 2023. "Poverty, entrepreneurship, and economic growth in Africa," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 199-226, June.
    8. Régis Y. Chenavaz & Alexandra Couston & Stéphanie Heichelbech & Isabelle Pignatel & Stanko Dimitrov, 2023. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Entrepreneurial Ventures: A Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-30, May.
    9. Arshed, Norin, 2017. "The origins of policy ideas: The importance of think tanks in the enterprise policy process in the UK," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 74-83.
    10. Nadia Simoes & Nuno Crespo & Sandrina B. Moreira, 2016. "Individual Determinants Of Self-Employment Entry: What Do We Really Know?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 783-806, September.
    11. Neomi Frisch-Aviram & Nissim Cohen & Itai Beeri, 2018. "Low-level bureaucrats, local government regimes and policy entrepreneurship," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(1), pages 39-57, March.
    12. McKeever, Edward & Jack, Sarah & Anderson, Alistair, 2015. "Embedded entrepreneurship in the creative re-construction of place," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 50-65.
    13. Stephen Syrett & Leandro Sepulveda, 2011. "Realising the Diversity Dividend: Population Diversity and Urban Economic Development," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(2), pages 487-504, February.
    14. Oelberger Carrie, 2024. "Avoiding Burnout with Compassionate Accompaniment: A Novel Approach to Training, Selecting, Managing, and Regulating Frontline Workers," Nonprofit Policy Forum, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 153-166, April.
    15. Huang, Francis L. & Cornell, Dewey, 2018. "The relationship of school climate with out-of-school suspensions," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 378-389.
    16. Trang Pham & Yung-Yu Tsai, 2024. "The Roles of Faculty Hiring and Retention in Shaping Diversity and Representation in US Higher Education Institutions: A Retrospective and Prospective Analysis from 2001 to 2035," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 65(7), pages 1420-1460, November.
    17. Robert A. Blackburn & David Smallbone, 2008. "Researching Small Firms and Entrepreneurship in the U.K.: Developments and Distinctiveness," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(2), pages 267-288, March.
    18. Assadi, Anahita & Lundin, Martin, 2015. "Tenure and street-level bureaucrats: how assessment tools are used at the frontline of the public sector," Working Paper Series 2015:19, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    19. Robert Lee & Heinz Tüselmann & Dilani Jayawarna & Julia Rouse, 2011. "Investigating the Social Capital and Resource Acquisition of Entrepreneurs Residing in Deprived Areas of England," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 29(6), pages 1054-1072, December.
    20. Friedman, Sam, 2022. "Climbing the velvet drainpipe: class background and career progression within the UK Civil Service," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117861, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:56:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s11077-023-09513-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.