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Enhancing responsiveness and consistency: Comparing the collective use of discretion and discretionary room at inspectorates in E ngland and the N etherlands
Author(s) -
Rutz Suzanne,
Mathew Dinah,
Robben Paul,
Bont Antoinette
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
regulation and governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.417
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1748-5991
pISSN - 1748-5983
DOI - 10.1111/rego.12101
Subject(s) - discretion , consistency (knowledge bases) , mandate , teamwork , work (physics) , political science , public relations , business , law , computer science , engineering , mechanical engineering , artificial intelligence
Discretion used to be considered a feature of individuals, but growing literature shows that it has collective features as well. To develop an understanding of the individual and cooperative work of inspectors in using discretion and the discretionary room granted to them, we compared two inspectorates: the C are Q uality C ommission ( CQC ) in E ngland and the J oint I nspectorate for Y outh ( JIY ) in the N etherlands. Our analysis reveals that inspectors engage with colleagues, managers, and stakeholders to include other perspectives, gain mandate, and broaden their repertoire. At the CQC , inspectors use their discretion collectively; on their own initiative, they involve others in balancing and interpreting rules to reach judgments. At the JIY , teamwork is central and regulatory teams are granted collective discretionary room. We argue that collective work permits both responsiveness and consistency. In studying the judgments of inspectors and other street‐level bureaucrats, it is vital to look at collective work and how it combines consistency and responsiveness.