Making administrative work matter in public service delivery: a lens for linking practice with the purpose of office

Abstract Among the general public as well as in the scientific literature, administrative work is widely associated with heavy bureaucratic procedures that are disconnected from serving clients. Less is said and written about the importance of administrative work in delivering public service. Drawing on a relational theoretical approach and based on an ethnographic field study in two municipal child welfare units in Denmark (including 38 days of observations and 30 interviews), this study shows how administrative work plays three key functions in various accountability relations and that these functions aid street-level bureaucrats in mastering the complexities of their work. The study offers a theoretical framework that delineates the functions of administrative work in complex street-level practice. By demonstrating how administrative work may contribute positively to fulfilling the purposes of street-level work, this study contributes to developing our understanding of administrative work as an invaluable part of street-level work and provides a more nuanced foundation for future studies on the virtues and issues of administrative work.