Programmes, Actor–Networks, and Discretion: Bureaucracy in Action at the Swedish Enforcement Authority

Abstract

Abstract This study explores the Swedish Enforcement Authority’s decision-making process to unpack the bureaucratic production chain and the roles of tools and artefacts. The aim is to explore and describe the organization of decisions, with a focus on the ‘programming’ of the decision-making process, the actors, and their discretion in relation to tools and programmes. This process allows the analysis to move beyond conventional approaches that criticize new public management and technology for reducing individual bureaucrats’ discretion and explaining how this is met with resistance. Combining governance, discretion, and actor–network theory, this study analyses documents and interviews to describe the programming, actors, and tools for case-processing, then (re)describes the decision-making process as an actor–network, before disentangling the various dimensions of discretion. Three main conclusions are drawn. First, bureaucratic principles, managerialism, and algorithmic governance meld into a joint ‘programming’ of the decision-making process. Second, bureaucratic case management can be understood as an actor–network mobilization linking actors with artefacts, which demonstrates that the transformation from analogue to digital governance is less discontinuous than often suggested. Third, discretion exists in various dimensions, but nuanced distinctions are required to extend beyond an all-or-nothing approach.