Hester Paanakker

71 the tangible nature of the tasks they perform. Much of the study of public values theoretically and empirically constitutes a focus on values in the wider public sector, or amongst administrators in the higher echelons of policy development or management (cf. (L. B. Andersen et al., 2012; Beck Jørgensen & Bozeman, 2007; De Graaf & Paanakker, 2015; Holmberg et al., 2009; Huberts, 2014; Reynaers & Paanakker, 2016; Van der Wal, 2016; Van der Wal & Yang, 2015; Yang & Van der Wal, 2014). Broad values such as desired accountability, lawfulness or effectiveness are understood to pertain to general public sector conduct, processes, and outcomes (or in Bozeman’s words, to “the principles on which governments and policies should be based” (2007, p. 13)) and are supposed to guide public decision making in all its aspects 2 . The limited amount of studies on the public office as a craft agree in the scope and definition of public values. For instance, Rhodes discusses generic values such as stewardship and political nous that ought to guide top administrators’ behavior (2015, pp. 642-644), and, among public managers, ‘t Hart contends that generic values such as transparency, accessibility, and reliability are key values of the craftsmen of the future (2014, pp. 36-37). Unlike values of such general nature, the conception of public craftsmanship that we propose opens up space to pinpoint values in specific professional and occupational spaces. Moreover, it indicates values that are descriptive of the hands-on work delivered at street level. In doing so, our perspective also shifts the focus to individual professionals: to the way individual professionals frame and interpret relevant values in good work. As such, it constitutes one way of reducing the conceptual confusion that is paramount in public values research (Beck Jørgensen & Rutgers, 2015; Van der Wal, 2011), and, as values only acquire meaning in the specific context in which they are found and used (L. B. Andersen et al., 2012; Rutgers, 2015; Yang, 2016), powerfully aids understanding of the irrefutably normative nature and contextual relevance. 3.5 A Common Understanding of Penal Craftsmanship Values or Not? When theorizing on the degree of street level consensus on craftsmanship and on a conducive institutional environment for craftsmanship in the organization, we need to consider what is 2 See the work of Beck Jørgensen & Bozeman (2007) for an elaborate account of the aspects to which the “public” in public values can refer 71 Mismatch Between Ideals and Institutional Facilitation