The micro-level action logic of boundary spanners in grassroots governance: a systematic review of role dilemmas, brokerage strategies, and contextual consequences

Abstract

Structural evolution within grassroots governance has reshaped the public policy implementation arena, yielding highly permeable boundaries between the state and society. Operating at the nexus of the bureaucracy and civic networks, boundary spanners serve as vital hubs that connect macro-level institutions with micro-level communities. Existing literature heavily favors the macro-structures of grassroots governance. A systematic, cross-contextual synthesis of the micro-level dilemmas and adaptive mechanisms confronting these frontline actors remains absent. Strictly adhering to the PRISMA guidelines, this study conducts a thematic synthesis of 100 high-quality empirical articles extracted from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Findings indicate substantial heterogeneity in the identity attributes of boundary spanners. Their actor typology extends beyond grassroots-deployed state agents to include professional third parties and endogenous societal actors. Situated at the intersection of dual networks, these actors face significant role dilemmas. These manifest as institutional conflicts between upward accountability and downward responsiveness, imbalances between resource constraints and service expectations, and structural tensions between professional norms and informal relational logic. Facing these structural constraints, actors exercise micro-level agency. They develop multidimensional brokerage strategies centered on performative compliance, policy translation, and cross-boundary resource bricolage. Subsequent analysis reveals that the ultimate governance efficacy of boundary-spanning behavior exhibits high contextual dependence. The outcomes vary considerably, ranging from fostering social empowerment to resulting in symbolic implementation or institutional absorption. This review critiques the literature’s over-assumption of frontline actor agency. It urges future research to dismantle the Western-centric state–society dichotomy, introduce large-sample measurement tools, and shift the evaluation perspective from a process orientation to long-term public value generation. Such an approach will provide a more robust empirical foundation and methodological trajectory for advancing modern grassroots governance theory.