Under pressure: A systematic review of the pressures shaping street-level work

What are the main pressures shaping street-level service delivery? Which types of pressures lead to specific coping strategies? Street-level bureaucrats’ coping mechanisms play a crucial role in their interactions with clients and have been widely studied. However, the pressures they face and how these pressures shape service delivery have not been systematically examined. This study shifts the focus from identifying street-level bureaucrats’ coping mechanisms to explaining their antecedents, providing a systematic account of the pressures that help shape street-level coping. Through a systematic review of 165 studies, we find that organizational pressures appear most prominently across a wide range of coping behaviors. Environmental pressures shape coping in varied ways, reflecting the diverse demands of the external environment. Personal pressures, although frequently discussed, influence coping in more nuanced and context-dependent ways, often reflected in behaviors that move toward clients. Together, these insights contribute to a richer conceptualization of street-level coping, showing that coping reflects the layered and intersecting pressures that shape frontline work.