“Leave the Ego at the Door”- Power Relations in Collaborative Social Service Governance

This paper explores the dynamics of power within collaborative social service governance, as experienced by social service workers engaged in efforts to influence social policies and welfare programs. Drawing on the street-level bureaucracy (SLB) framework, we investigate how these actors experience power in collaborative efforts for change and how they perceive its implications for outcomes. The study employs a phenomenological approach, based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 social service workers in Israel and Germany. The findings reveal a nuanced understanding of power within collaborative arrangements and their broader contexts, categorized into four types of relational dynamics. We argue that recognizing power dynamics is essential for understanding SLBs’ collaborative efforts aimed at change. Finally, we propose a conceptual, holistic perspective for capturing this phenomenon.