95-11169 Maynard-Moody The official actions of street-level bureaucrats substantially influence the distribution of government goods and services. A better understanding of the norms that govern the decisions of street-level bureaucrats would enhance our ability to make most effective use of the government. This study seeks to discover under what conditions street-level government workers use recognizable norms of substantive justice to shape their allocative decisions and how that use is shaped through local work and identity-centered cultures. It relies on data collected from stories of official interactions told by a carefully-selected sample of bureaucrats over a period of time. The story analysis is combined with intensive field work to learn how local work and identity cultures shape the management of justice-related decision-making dilemmas in particular settings. %%%% The official actions of street-level bureaucrats substantially influence the distribution of government goods and services. A better understanding of the norms that govern the decisions of street-level bureaucrats would enhance our ability to make most effective use of the government. This study seeks to discover under what conditions street-level government workers use recognizable norms of substantive justice to shape their allocative decisions and how that use is shaped through local work and identity-centered cultures. It relies on data collected from stories of official interactions told by a carefully-selected sample of bureaucrats over a period of time. The story analysis is combined with intensive field work to learn how local work and identity cultures shape the management of justice-related decision-making dilemmas in particular settings. ****
