Blaming the bureaucrat: does perceived blame risk influence inspectors’ enforcement style?
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852319899433 |
| Published date | 01 June 2022 |
| Date | 01 June 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Article
Blaming the bureaucrat:
does perceived blame
risk influence inspectors’
enforcement style?
Erik Hans Klijn
Erasmus University, The Netherlands
Jasper Eshuis
Erasmus University, The Netherlands
Alette Opperhuizen
Erasmus University, The Netherlands
Noortje de Boer
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Abstract
Is there a relation between street-level bureaucrats’ enforcement style and their per-
ception of the risk of getting blamed? This article answers this question on the basis of a
survey (n¼507) among inspectors of the Netherlands Food and Product Safety
Authority. We included perceived media attention on their work as a factor that
might influence street-level bureaucrats’ perception of blame risk and their enforce-
ment style. Three dimensions of enforcement style were distinguished from earlier
research: legal, facilitative and accommodative. We found that when inspectors per-
ceive more blame risk, they employ a slightly less legal style and, instead, employ a more
accommodative style. Thus, they act a little less formally and less coercively (i.e. legal)
and take greater account of their peers’ opinions (i.e. accommodative). However, per-
ceived media attention did not have a significant influence on enforcement style.
Corresponding author:
Erik Hans Klijn, Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral
Sciences, Erasmus University, Mandeville Building T-17-41, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam,
The Netherlands.
Email: klijn@essb.eur.nl
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
!The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852319899433
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
2022, Vol. 88(2) 283–301
Points for practitioners
1. When inspectors perceive more blame risk, they tend to pay more attention to the
opinion of peers (other inspectors, supervisors, etc.).
2. Blame risk does not lead to the use of a more formal inspection style.
3. Media attention does not play an important role in enhancing the blame risk
perception of inspectors.
4. This media and blame risk is less important than often found in the case of politicians.
This may be connected to the fact that the work of inspectors as street-level
bureaucrats is less visible to the wider public (and the media).
Keywords
blame avoidance, blame risk, enforcement style, inspectors, street-level bureaucrat
Introduction
Inspectors are typical street-level bureaucrats with considerable discretion
and autonomy, who enforce policies during interactions with inspectees. During
these encounters, inspectors risk being blamed for their actions (Gilad et al., 2018;
Hood, 2011).
Hood (2011), whose seminal book has become a major reference in the literature
on blame, points out that blame risk and its negative consequences can be found at
all levels of administration, from politicians to street-level bureaucrats, such as
inspectors. However, very little research actually focuses on street-level bureau-
crats. Recent literature focuses more on citizens who blame political actors and
other actors in policy processes (see, for instance, Marvel and Girth, 2015; Olsen,
2017; Piatak et al., 2017), or on how politicians react to blame (Baekkeskov and
Rubin, 2017; Hinterleitner and Sager, 2015; Nielsen and Baekgaard, 2013).
Moreover, blame risk itself, as an actor’s perception, is rarely directly measured.
This is remarkable because inspectors and their regulatory organizations are
repeatedly under scrutiny, not just by politicians, but also by the media, inspectees
and the public. An example of regulators being held responsible and receiving a
great deal of blame is the horsemeat scandal in 2013, where horsemeat was found
in beef products in European Union countries such as the UK, The Netherlands
and France. The scandal led to massive criticism in the media and society, as well
as in the political sphere, regarding the regulatory agencies in those countries
(Ibrahim and Howarth, 2017; The Guardian, 2016).
Blame risk as a conditioner of inspector style
The risk of blame (‘blame risk’) influences the way in which organizations work
and how their members behave (Hood, 2011). The literature on blame risk and
284 International Review of Administrative Sciences 88(2)
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