{"id":2280,"date":"2018-11-14T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T14:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=2280"},"modified":"2018-11-13T09:30:41","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T15:30:41","slug":"state-agents-under-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2018\/11\/14\/state-agents-under-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"State Agents Under Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_2283\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2283\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mdgovpics\/6323420941\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-2283\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/11\/6323420941_61e96ff5b8_z-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/11\/6323420941_61e96ff5b8_z-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/11\/6323420941_61e96ff5b8_z-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/11\/6323420941_61e96ff5b8_z.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2283\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo of flu shot clinic for veterans. Photo by Maryland GovPics, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/politics\/california-officials-respond-after-trump-blames-state-for-wildfires\/4513299\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Trump blamed California state officials<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for not doing enough to fight and prevent wildfires, civil servants seem to be fed up. Though often understood as emotionless state bureaucrats, frontline workers of the state &#8212; from firefighters to social workers &#8212; must often deal with suffering, emergencies, and disasters in the everyday operations of their agencies. Social science research helps us understand how state actors manage these roles and maintain their own emotional wellbeing.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5>The work of state agents entails balancing institutional rules and scarce state resources. Their everyday decisions are thus an essential component of administering and implementing public policy. Because they control the distribution of services, state officials can become policymakers with considerable discretion in the daily implementation of state activities. Their work not only influences how state operations impact citizens\u2019 lives, but it also shapes citizens\u2019 perceptions of state legitimacy.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/scholars.org\/scholar\/michael-lipsky\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Michael Lipsky<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2010. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.russellsage.org\/publications\/street-level-bureaucracy\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Street-Level Bureaucracy, 30th Anniversary Edition: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Service<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Russell Sage Foundation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bernardozacka.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bernardo Zacka<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2017. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/catalog.php?isbn=9780674545540&amp;content=toc\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the State Meets the Street: Public Service and Moral Agency<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Harvard University Press.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gspp.berkeley.edu\/directories\/faculty\/amy-e-lerman\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amy E. Lerman <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/politicalscience.jhu.edu\/directory\/vesla-weaver\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Vesla M. Weaver<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2014. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.press.uchicago.edu\/ucp\/books\/book\/chicago\/A\/bo18008991.html\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arresting Citizenship: The Democratic Consequences of American Crime Control<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. University of Chicago Press.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Workers\u2019 affective lives &#8212; their emotional challenges and commitments to institutions &#8212; impact the functioning of organizations. Unlike many politicians, scholars, or journalists, state bureaucrats have everyday contact with adversity, social problems, and vulnerable populations. For state officials who interact with the public, working with clients can be emotionally draining and even physically harmful. Civil servants suffer emotional and psychological distress as a result of their daily roles. The consequences of exhausting interactions are harmful to the purposes of the organization, as &#8212; in the process of routine operations &#8212; bureaucrats may develop special preferences, antipathies, and discrimination against their clients.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Robert-K-Merton\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Robert K. Merton<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1939. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/2570634?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bureaucratic Structure and Personality<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social Forces<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">18<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: 560-568. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/charlesfigley.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Charles R. Figley<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2013. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/record\/1995-97891-000\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Compassion Fatigue: Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder in Those who Treat the Traumatized<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Routledge.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhh.umn.edu\/directory\/joe-soss\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joe Soss<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/psc.ua.edu\/profiles\/richard-c-fording\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Richard C. Fording<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and \u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hunter.cuny.edu\/polsci\/faculty\/schram\/sanford-schram\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sanford F. Schram<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2011. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.press.uchicago.edu\/ucp\/books\/book\/chicago\/D\/bo12120768.html\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. University of Chicago Press.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State agents thus perform a complex balancing act, both for society and for themselves. Instead of using the stereotype of bureaucrats as vile and insensitive, public policy decisions must also consider the operations of organizational behavior and the struggles of bureaucrats in providing state services.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After President Trump blamed California state officials for not doing enough to fight and prevent wildfires, civil servants seem to be fed up. Though often understood as emotionless state bureaucrats, frontline workers of the state &#8212; from firefighters to social workers &#8212; must often deal with suffering, emergencies, and disasters in the everyday operations of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2020,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,33,85],"tags":[110481,110485,110486,38543,110483,17228,355,38544,565,371,110482,38546,9084,105329,110484,3534,3547],"class_list":["post-2280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-health","category-politics","tag-bureaucrats","tag-civil","tag-civil-servants","tag-culture","tag-emotional-health","tag-emotional-labor","tag-government","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-policy","tag-policymakers","tag-politics","tag-public-policy","tag-resources","tag-self-care","tag-state","tag-stress"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2020"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2280"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2285,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280\/revisions\/2285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}