<p>Abstract</p><p>Essay in political science, C-level, by Line Säll, spring semester 2007.</p><p>Tutor: Susan Marton.</p><p>”To do things by the rule of law -A study in the discretion of front-line bureaucrats”</p><p>This essay has it´s starting-point in the theoretical problem of social science to unite democracy and bureaucracy. The purpose is to illustrate the problems with the discretion of front-line bureaucrats in a democratic state. The theoretical approach is front-line bureaucracy-theory. Certain characteristics of the work of street-level bureaucrats makes it impossible to severly reduce discretion. The thesis is that the public policy in important ways is made in the offices of street-level bureaucrats because of their discretion. My research question is: How does front-line bureaucrats, at an employment exchange office in Sweden, interpret their discretion? The discretion is investigated in relation to the marginalised position of immigrants on the swedish labor-market, and in the perspective of that the swedish population is getting more and more heterogeneous. The essay is an qualitative interview study, as front-line bureaucrats at an employment exchange office has been interviewed. My findings is that the front-line bureaucrats interpret their discretion as quite limited. The limits is mostly seen in relation to the rules of the organisation, the bureaucrats orientation towards the organisation over the client and to the ideal of the rule of law.</p>

Title: [Frontline bureaucrats discretion in the transition to Establishment Reform]This essay aims to study discretion among frontline bureaucrats as an important factor in the integration of immigrants. In contrast to other studies of discretion this essays has its focus on a new establishment reform that has been recently legislated. The theoretical frame is based on the concept of frontline bureaucracy developed by M. Lipsky (2010). In the analysis of the discretion in this specific area I have been inspired by I. Schierenbecks (2003) comparative study based on three different relationships a frontline bureaucrat has to take into account: regulations, the dual role and a relationship to the immigrant client. I have used a qualitative approach where I interviewed workers in two different employment exchange offices in the country. The results show that there is an opportunity to adapt the law to individual needs which meets the criteria for an extensible and flexible framework. All frontline bureaucrats find the dual role as debilitating where they feel torn between the organization's goals and the applicant's needs. When these needs conflict, the majority chooses to follow the employment services directives. Frontline bureaucrats in the study are sharing a disposal, problem- solving approach towards the immigrant clients. There is a perception among frontline bureaucrats on new immigrant clients as carriers of specific cultural characteristics, however, there is nothing saying that these perceptions affect the exercise of authority. This study expands further through the dimension of newcomers' opportunities in achieving active citizenship. In the essay I discuss the usage of discretion among workers at the employment exchange office and the new establishment reform as two factors playing a significant role in the activation of active citizenship for the new immigrants as well as in the integration of the same.

Abstract Essay in political science, C-level, by Line Säll, spring semester 2007. Tutor: Susan Marton. ”To do things by the rule of law -A study in the discretion of front-line bureaucrats” This essay has it´s starting-point in the theoretical problem of social science to unite democracy and bureaucracy. The purpose is to illustrate the problems with the discretion of front-line bureaucrats in a democratic state. The theoretical approach is front-line bureaucracy-theory. Certain characteristics of the work of street-level bureaucrats makes it impossible to severly reduce discretion. The thesis is that the public policy in important ways is made in the offices of street-level bureaucrats because of their discretion. My research question is: How does front-line bureaucrats, at an employment exchange office in Sweden, interpret their discretion? The discretion is investigated in relation to the marginalised position of immigrants on the swedish labor-market, and in the perspective of that the swedish population is getting more and more heterogeneous. The essay is an qualitative interview study, as front-line bureaucrats at an employment exchange office has been interviewed. My findings is that the front-line bureaucrats interpret their discretion as quite limited. The limits is mostly seen in relation to the rules of the organisation, the bureaucrats orientation towards the organisation over the client and to the ideal of the rule of law.

El presente proyecto se basa en una bolsa de empleo enfocada en estudiantes que buscan sus primeras prácticas preprofesionales en base a una investigación que se realizó a universitarios de los sectores A,B y C y reclutadores en el mercado laboral.  Se pudo encontrar la necesidad de los estudiantes en capacitarse en cuanto habilidades de empleabilidad y postular a ofertas de empleo sin la necesidad de llenar un formulario nuevamente, por otro lado, los reclutadores expresaron su deseo de agilizar los procesos de reclutamiento y selección de practicantes mediante filtros avanzados y un mayor alcance a ellos. Para poner en marcha el proyecto se realizaron experimentos de entrevistas a expertos, usuarios, validaciones de intención de compra, un plan financiero y un plan de marketing. Todo ello nos derivó en la validación total del proyecto y los requerimientos para su posterior puesta en marcha a fin de ser una marca referente en el campo de la empleabilidad. / This project is based on a job bank focused on students seeking their first pre-professional internships based on research carried out on university students from sectors A, B and C and recruiters in the labor market. It was possible to find the need for students to train in employability skills and apply for job offers without the need to fill out a form again, on the other hand, recruiters expressed their desire to streamline the recruitment and selection processes of interns through advanced filters and a greater scope to them. To start the project, experiments were carried out with interviews with experts, users, purchase intention validations, a financial plan and a marketing plan. All this led to the total validation of the project and the requirements for its subsequent implementation in order to be a benchmark brand in the field of employability. / Trabajo de investigación