From time to time, we use the OK Policy blog to post contributions that offer interesting perspectives on important policy issues for the state. Michael Lipsky is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos, a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization. An expanded 30th Anniversary edition of Michael’s book, Street Level Bureaucracy, will be published this month. This post originally ran on the Demos blog, ideasactionblog.org

The first week in May was Public Service Recognition Week. Although the week in principle is dedicated to all public service workers, most of the attention went to the civilian federal workers who number two million throughout the country and overseas.

But there are other public service workers who deserve more than passing recognition: the 15 million men and women who work in state, county and municipal governments around the country. Read the rest of this entry »