THE PARADOX OF STREET-LEVEL BUREAUCRACY AND THE MOULDING OF THE BUREAUCRATIC MIND

In this paper, I examine "the paradox of street-level bureaucracy", a significant challenge in frontline administrative decision-making. This dilemma arises from conflicting obligations faced by street-level officials, who must balance obedience to the law and the orders they receive with discretion in decision-making. By showing that the dilemma is a case of the "paradox of rules", a problem of rule-application that has to be understood in psychological terms, I assert that it cannot be univer-sally applied to all street-level bureaucrats. Instead, the impact of the dilemma var-ies among types of officials based on their work-related "mindframe". This mind -frame is predominantly determined by organizational factors that differ between institutions. I suggest that to determine how street-level officials navigate this di-lemma, one should foremost consider the hierarchical rigidity of an institution and the nature of organizational training.