Administrative Evil and Street Level Discretion

Two of the most widely discussed concepts in the public administration literature are administrative evil and street level discretion. Today, few would deny, that administrators (particularly street level bureaucrats) exercise personal judgment in carrying out their broadly defined responsibilities. Street level bureaucrats have considerable power in how they perform their day-to-day duties. They often use their discretion judiciously, however, at times public sector representatives abuse their power when they inflict unnecessary pain and suffering on others. Three case studies are presented in this paper. One case study describes illicit behavior by military personnel in a war zone during the Vietnam War. Two case studies describe and the actions of police officers in the cities of Baltimore and New York. These case studies identify situations where relatively low-level personnel felt empowered to act with impunity in depriving people of human and legal rights. The cases illustrate the need for strict oversight in organizations, especially in organizations where use of deadly force is authorized under specific conditions. As illustrated by the three cases, abuse of discretion can facilitate administrative evil. The environment of organizations is viewed as strongly influencing compliance or lack of compliance with reasonable norms of behavior.