The public encounter as object of delegation

Abstract

This chapter analyses the politics of the ‘public encounter’ when this implies the departure from the traditional mode of interaction between state actors and policy recipients that usually takes place in face-to-face meetings in public offices. By building on empirical analysis about private-public cooperation in an emblematic domain of state sovereignty, which is migration and border control, this contribution aims at putting forward what happens to the process of policymaking at the street level when the public encounter is delegated to non-state actors. An empirical, bottom-up, perspective on the study of public action allows for shedding light on the advantages that the involvement of non-state actors represents for the state. This analysis shows that delegation deflects accountability and modifies the ways in which discretion is utilized. Modes of governing at a distance affect the politics and practices of the public encounter and in fine policymaking on the ground, therefore deserving empirical scrutiny.