The Impact of "Street-Level Bureaucrats" on Administrative Burdens and Mechanisms in the Context of Digital Government Development

The construction of digital government in China has been advancing steadily and is regarded as a solution to reduce administrative burdens. However, "street-level bureaucrats" still face the dilemma of increased administrative burdens in specific contexts. This paper reviews the relevant literature on digital government, administrative burdens, and "street-level bureaucrats," and finds that the impact and mechanisms of "street-level bureaucrats" on administrative burdens in the context of digital government construction have not been sufficiently studied. Therefore, based on the theories of "street-level bureaucrats" and principal-agent, this paper proposes a framework for the impact mechanisms of "street-level bureaucrats" on administrative burdens during the construction of digital government. Finally, this paper suggests that administrative burdens will rise when "street-level bureaucrats" deal with conflicting matters, and will decrease when they handle non-conflicting matters.