ABSTRACT
Among the major characteristics of street-level bureaucrats' jobs are that they: constantly interact with members of the public in face-to-face encounters; have considerable independence, because they often work in the absence of direct visual or close proximate supervision, and because a great deal of information about their conduct is supplied by the street-level bureaucrats themselves; and are in a position to have a great impact on the individuals on whom they act (or refrain from acting on). Where street-level bureaucrats have a significant degree of discretion, where their work is less rule centered, and where they have more control, their individual theories of justice have an important effect on the final implementation of public policies. Where street-level bureaucrats are, above all else, constrained by rules, and where they operate within the confines of a traditional bureaucracy, individual theories of justice have much less impact on the final delivery of goods and services.
