Abstract

The scientific debate on street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) has explored elements such as resources, policy capacities, entrepreneurship, and digital innovation, but paid little attention to the relational dimension between SLBs and citizens, and how this affects policy outcomes. Through the analysis of a policy for gambling prevention and harm reduction the article aims to identify which relational factors affected the policy outcomes. Data collection, based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation in three gaming venues, allowed authors to reconstruct in depth three cases of relation between bureaucrats and citizens. Based on these cases, the article indicates how certain relational factors, such as third-party mediation, intermittency in the relationship, communicative distancing, and attempts to cross a psychological threshold, can determine substantial differences in terms of policy outcomes.