Journal Articles

Serving Citizens: How Comparable Are Polish and Russian "Street-Level" Bureaucrats?

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An experimental survey on bureaucratic responsiveness in the social welfare arena in Poland and Russia shows that both countries’ social welfare workers are capable of performing in a manner deemed helpful to local Polish and Russian citizens—a key component of effective governance. Such findings are surprising given an absence of reforms to create Weberian bureaucracies out of both countries’ social welfare agencies, differences in Polish and Russian overall governance, and variations in civil society legacies. The findings suggest that Weberian features, designed to keep outside interests at bay, may not necessarily be essential for local government to be perceived as being responsive and may not be relevant for certain sectors, such as social welfare, where opportunities for corruption are more limited. Because "customer service" is important for an effective state, citizen perceptions of local bureaucrats’ responsiveness need to be recognized as critical components of on-the-ground governance.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Comparative Political Studies

Call Number

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Publisher

: sage publisher., 2010

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

00104140

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Vol. 43, No. 5, May 2010. pp. 578-605

Subject(s)

Bureaucracy
Russia
Social Welfare
Poland
Weber
Postcommunism
Serving Citizens, How Comparable Are Polish

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