Coping With Public Value Conflicts

Good governance involves managing conflicting values, leading to the main research question, which consists of three parts: Which public value profiles do public administrators have, which value conflicts do they experience, and which coping strategies are used? Here, previous literature on public value conflicts is discussed first and linked to the literature on street-level bureaucrats and on coping strategies. Then two case studies are presented: a municipality and a hospital. The findings show six different value clusters that administrators adhere to and clarify which value conflicts are typically experienced in various public sector organizations and which different coping mechanisms are used.