Citation

Hill M, Møller M. J. Int. Comp. Soc. Policy 2019; 35(2): 177-193.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/21699763.2019.1593880

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Propositions about street-level bureaucracy run the risk of violating the scientific precept that a theoretical generalisation should be tested by replication in a variety of contexts. Many examples can be found of writings that simply indicate that street-level discretion is pervasive. This prompts the questions, 'but how', and under what conditions 'may' that happen? Comparison is needed to answer these questions, particularly cross-national ones. It will be argued that good cross-national comparative work must rest upon precise specification of the contexts to be compared and avoiding comparing tasks that seem similar, but in fact serve different functions in different contexts. To explore this one particular task - pre-school child care - is selected. The discussion of this specific example is examined as a model for similar comparative work.

Language: en

Keywords

child care; Comparative studies; street-level bureaucracy