000			01830nam a22001577a 4500
999			_c518753 _d518753
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100			_aBlijleven, Wieke and Huls, Merlijn Van _930041
245			_aHow do frontline civil servants engage the public: Practices, embedded agency, and Bricolage
260			_aAmerican Review of Public Administration
300			_a51(4), May, 2021: p.278-292
520			_aCivil servants in local government are increasingly expected to engage and collaborate with citizens and stakeholders. This article takes a practice approach to develop a generic picture of everyday work at the front lines of public engagement, highlighting the relational and improvisational aspects of that work that, to date, have remained understudied. Our data and analyses build on the existing literature and contribute to it by describing five specific practices of civil servants. Based on our in-depth interviews with 45 frontline civil servants in the Netherlands, we found that civil servants try to bring together a range of different interests, values, perspectives, and resources by understanding the situation, building rapport and trust, developing shared resolutions, aligning processes “outside” and “inside” city hall, and supporting practically. Furthermore, we substantiate the idea that the practices of frontline workers entail embedded agency, which we specifically label as bricolage. We demonstrate how agency is constrained and enabled by the local bureaucracy and its policies, and that civil servants seek alignment possibilities and resolutions. – Reproduced
650			_aCitizen engagement, Frontline work, Public encounters, Civil servants, Embedded agency, Bricolage _928542
773			_aAmerican Review of Public Administration
906			_aCIVIL SERVANTS
942			_cAR