Street-level bureaucracy: an underused theoretical model for general practice?

Street-level bureaucracy (SLB) is a sociological theory that seeks to explain the working practices and beliefs of frontline workers in public services and the ways in which they enact public policy in their routine work. Developed by an American, Michael Lipsky, it examines the workplace in terms of systematic and practical dilemmas that must be overcome by employees, with a particular focus on public services such as welfare, policing, and education. The theory is based on the notion that public services represent ‘the coal mines of welfare where the “hard, dirty and dangerous work” of the state’ is done.’