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Impossible jobs or impossible tasks? Client volatility and frontline policing practice in urban riots

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Morrell, Kevin and Currie, Graeme (2015) Impossible jobs or impossible tasks? Client volatility and frontline policing practice in urban riots. Public Administration Review, Volume 75 (Number 2). pp. 264-275. doi:10.1111/puar.12311 ISSN 0033-3352.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/puar.12311

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Abstract

Various public administration jobs are described as “impossible,” meaning that they have an unpopular or illegitimate client base, stakeholders have conflicting values, and leaders and their agency's mission are continually questioned. Although this framework is widely used, it has also become overgeneralized. The authors propose three theoretical extensions to understanding impossible jobs based on findings from a three-year multimethod study of riot policing. First, a distinction can be drawn between impossible jobs and impossible tasks. Second, the relationship between impossible jobs and street-level bureaucracy is clarified; the case of riot police shows that some street-level bureaucrats face impossible tasks. Third, the authors show that the conceptualization of the client base has been overly static—in some situations, the client base fractures, or grows rapidly, and legitimacy can change in real time.

Item Type: Journal Article
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Management
Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Strategy & International Business
Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Journal or Publication Title: Public Administration Review
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
ISSN: 0033-3352
Official Date: March 2015
Dates:
DateEvent
March 2015Published
13 January 2015Available
Volume: Volume 75
Number: Number 2
Page Range: pp. 264-275
DOI: 10.1111/puar.12311
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access

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