Environmental policy debates are gaining momentum in the public square from scholars and citizens alike. From all sides of the debate, a growing consensus is emerging that advocates a shift in the environmental regulatory system in the United States from one that emphasizes command and control regulations to one that advocates collaboration between the regulator and regulatee. Although this dialogue is expanding, the research literature largely remains silent on a critical component of the environmental regulatory system — the individuals on the front-lines. Most notably, these front-line workers are environmental compliance inspectors and the individuals that inspectors deal with at regulated facilities. Inspectors and facility personnel are largely responsible for the implementation of environmental regulation in the U.S., yet they are overlooked in the discussion of regulation, past and present. These key actors are of tremendous significance and must be considered in discussions of environmental policy. In particular, the interactions of these two important groups of actors merit exploration. This research examines the interactions of inspectors and facility personnel in Virginia and investigates contentions that the relationships in the environmental regulatory system lack trust. One-on-one interviews were conducted with nearly four dozen inspectors and facility personnel in Virginia to seek answers to the question: How does trust factor into the relationships between environmental compliance inspectors and facility personnel in Virginia? In contrast to presumptions in the literature, this study finds evidence of positive relationships between these two seeming adversaries and asserts that trust is present in these interactions. Accordingly, there are potentially significant implications of these findings for future environmental policy. These implications include the realization that the relationships are positive, that there may indeed be differences between relationships at the state versus federal level and the experiences at one level dominate prevailing perceptions, and that traditional assumptions of command and control regulations may not be as valid as previously thought. / Ph. D.

Immigration is arguably among the most divisive global and national issues at present. In the U.S., undocumented persons (the DREAMers) who arrived to the U.S. as children have been the central focus of legislation and debate. As of 2013, the undocumented population has increased from less than a million in 1980, then reaching 12.2 million in 2006, to an estimated population of 11.3 million (Passel, Cohn, Krogstand, & Gonzalez-Barerra, 2014) just a few short years ago. For the numerous undocumented students who have excelled academically and socially, and make positive contributions to their communities, the goal of obtaining a college degree is naturally the next step after high school. While undocumented students face intractable challenges in the areas of residency/citizenship, the college admission process, and financing their education, many still find their way on college campuses seeking degree completion. Academic advisors are uniquely positioned to support the persistence and graduation of students, especially undocumented students. Therefore, this research examined perspectives and behaviors of advisors concerning their interactions with undocumented students in public universities utilizing the framework of Michael Lipsky’s (1980) understanding of street-level bureaucracy to determine the discretionary behaviors exercised by academic advisors who advise undocumented students. Study participants included college advisors located in the middle southern and western regions of the United States, where undocumented populations are highest. A qualitative methodology with a case study research design was used in this phenomenological guided research to determine two major study findings: (a) academic advisors are exercising discretionary behavior in advising undocumented students and general population students and (b) the academic advising needs of undocumented students differ from other students. This study has contributed to public administration and higher education advising literature by providing insight into how advisors understand their roles, implement policy, and participate in divergence to meet the needs of students.

Work-related activation policies are currently developing in most western welfare states. Sweden is no exception and activation policies were introduced in the 1990s in many municipal social services organizations in Sweden. The Swedish form of activation policies requires social assistance recipients to participate in mandatory activation program in return for financial support. This dissertation investigates the street-level implementation practices of activation policies within the context of the Swedish welfare state. The purpose of the study is to examine how street-level workers in the municipal social service systemtranslate activation policy into practice in their interactions with the clients and what factors that structure their implementation practices. The research project is a multiple-case study that examines the street-level practices in two municipal social service settings in Sweden, Skärholmen city-district in Stockholm municipality and Osby municipality and their local activation programs. The data collection consists of observations of the staffs’ daily operations, interviews with local politicians and other key personnel, and the analysis of formal policy and program documents. Theoretically this dissertation builds on the street-level bureaucracy perspective (Lipsky, 1980), which suggests that organizational working conditions shape street-level workers implementation practices through their development of informal coping strategies. But this study extends the street-level buraucracy approach by including political-institutional factors and normative assumptions about public support and social assistance recipients into the analysis. Findings from the study suggest that street-level implementation practices entail a number of informal coping strategies that removes activation policy from formal policy goals. Implementation practices entail, for example, mass referrals instead of individual assessments and tailor-made solutions. Clients were sorted and categorized on the basis of moral perceptions about behavioral deficits instead of employment needs. These informal practice strategies were the results of both coping strategies and normative assumptions that interacted with the organizational context in which these practices took place.

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