The Challenge of Balancing Innovation and Tradition in the Public Sector: The Role of Street-Level Bureaucrats in Digital Transformation

Abstract

This conceptual article investigates the critical role of street-level bureaucrats (SLB) as potential “eliminators” of dysfunctional policies and drivers of digital change in the public sector. Working on the front lines of government, they have a distinctive viewpoint that allows them to challenge persistent ineffective policies. The present work introduces a framework that illustrates the roles SLBs could assume within the context of the ongoing digitalization reform of the German public administration. It explores the conditions under which public servants are likely to be reflexive about existing practices—including reform practices—and can promote real innovation.