Under what conditions do street-level bureaucrats prioritize citizens’ voices? Findings from the 12345 hotline in China

Public administration researchers indicate that citizens may express dissatisfaction through various voice approaches following negative experiences. However, researchers have not fully examined how these approaches affect the priority decisions of street-level bureaucrats (SLBs). This study addresses this research gap by examining how three citizen voices – reiterating previous complaints, contacting the media, and reporting to higher authorities – influence hotline operators’ priority decisions. The study draws on 456,427 citizen complaints submitted to the 12345 hotline in J City, China, from 2021 to 2022. The findings show that hotline operators are more likely to prioritize complaints that involve media contact or escalation to higher authorities. In contrast, reiterating previous complaints is significantly associated with a decrease in receiving priority. An analysis of combined voices shows that simultaneously contacting the media and reporting to higher authorities has a stronger effect on prioritization. This study contributes to the governance and policy literature by uncovering the mechanisms underlying SLBs’ prioritization of diverse citizen voices. The findings also offer citizens guidance on using voices effectively to increase the likelihood of prioritized responses from SLBs.