On the outside, Looking in: Understanding transparency at the frontline

This doctoral dissertation examines the effects of transparency on the daily work of street-level bureaucrats and their interactions with citizens. By studying food and product safety inspectors, this dissertation shows that transparency helps street-level bureaucrats do their job. By studying citizens’ perceptions of multiple enforcing street-level bureaucrats (e.g. parking wardens), this dissertation reveals that citizens are biased about the street-level bureaucrats they meet, but this does not mean they will make what street-level bureaucrats do transparent to others.