Abstract
In those countries lacking democratic institutions and with weak professional bureaucracy and low governance capacity at the rural grassroots level, do different types of street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) exist? If so, how do they work? To answer these questions, this article constructs an institution-practice framework to understand the different types of SLBs. Based on fieldwork in three Chinese counties concerning their implementation of the Targeted Poverty Alleviation Policy, we found that the street-level bureaucracy from higher-up is the key to addressing China’s inadequate street-level governance capacity. The organizational structure, mechanisms, and strategies of SLBs from higher-up are differ from other types of SLBs. The institutional arrangements of the SLBs from higher-up are campaign-style and informal; their institutional mechanisms are mainly idea loading and carrying, and policy learning; their motivation is politicalized, that is, they are politically committed and incentivized; they are also coping, but they are entrepreneurs. The SLBs from higher-up expands our understanding of the street-level bureaucracy as it relates to institutional embeddedness, diversified types, and escaping the trap of street-level governance capacity limitations.