Delivering public services in multi-ethnic societies: the challenge of representativeness

Peters, B. Guy; Schröter, Eckhard; Maravić, Patrick von

doi:10.4337/9780857936011.00005

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…This focus is theoretically justified by micro theories of representation that do not require an individual client come into contact with a specific individual bureaucrat (Meier and Morton 2015). Empirical studies of bureaucratic representation have faced normative criticisms (Bearfield 2009;Lim 2006;Peters, Schröter, and von Maravic 2015) that require further theoretical clarification and empirical investigation. The key issues can be summarized by asking who is being represented and what value is being pursued?…”

Section: Issues Of Aggregate Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One normative criticism in the literature on representative bureaucracy is that the process introduces favoritism (perhaps unconsciously see Akram 2018) into a bureaucratic process that the critics contend is designed to be neutral (Bearfield 2009;Lim 2006;Peters, Schröter, and von Maravic 2015). Indeed one can envision bureaucracies where ethnic or family ties determine what benefits the bureaucracy will deliver to citizens, a form of patronage bureaucracy that might be common in parts of the developing world (van Gool 2008).…”

Section: What Value Is Being Represented?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both theoretical literature and empirical findings indicate that PR is not always translated into AR (Keiser et al 2002;Peters et al 2015;Wilkins and Williams 2009). The theoretical literature discusses a wide range of barriers to representation (Groeneveld and Van de Walle 2010; Meier and Morton 2015).…”

Section: Representation At the Individual Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theoretical Frontiers in Representative Bureaucracy: New Directions for Research

Meier

2018

Perspectives on Public Management and Governance

175

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The notion of a representative bureaucracy has generated a great deal of research although many issues are yet to be resolved and some have not been addressed. This theoretical essay uses a contingency theory approach to address a set of key questions relevant to representative bureaucracy. It discusses who is represented and what values get represented at the aggregate level, why bureaucrats represent, who they represent, and which bureaucrats represent at the individual level, and the empirical issues of critical mass, intersectionality, and how representation might change as a minority becomes a majority. The essay proposes 15 testable hypotheses and four modeling recommendations for empirical analysis.

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Section: Issues Of Aggregate Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What Value Is Being Represented?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theoretical Frontiers in Representative Bureaucracy: New Directions for Research

Meier

2018

Perspectives on Public Management and Governance

175

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“…First, the meaning of representation can be different because demographic identities that are politically salient can vary across countries (Meier & Morton, 2015). Ethnically heterogeneous countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia have dealt with racial discrimination; therefore, race and ethnicity can become a salient identity for representation (Peters et al, 2015). However, countries where the population is ethnically homogeneous, other identities such as gender, region, or social class can be important identities in defining representation.…”

Section: Representative Bureaucracy and National Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Representation and Student Performance: Representative Bureaucracy Goes to Korea

Song

2016

The American Review of Public Administration

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The literature on representative bureaucracy argues that bureaucrats who reflect the diversity of citizens are more likely to be responsive to the public. Although substantial research has supported the claim, most studies are conducted in Western countries such as the United States, and the evidence from other contexts is extremely limited. This raises two important questions: Does the relationship remain valid in a centralized Asian country? If so, under what conditions does representative bureaucracy matter more? This study investigates these questions by using a data set on secondary education in South Korea. Findings suggest that female students perform better when they are taught by female teachers, which strengthens the external validity of the theory. The positive link between female teachers and female student performance is greater when teachers have more discretion and interact more with each other. However, value consensus weakens the relationship between gender representation and student performance. Clientele diversity matters in gender representation at the managerial level, but sector differences are not statistically supported. These findings illustrate the need to take both national and organizational contexts seriously in representative bureaucracy theory.

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“…Past research has shown various mechanisms by which gender quotas may improve the livelihoods of women; a critical mass of women in an agency may induce men in the agency to restrain their own biased behavior (Lim, 2006) or respond more robustly to offenses that disproportionately target women (Andrews & Johnston Miller, 2013), seeing women in leadership positions may cause a breakdown of negative stereotypes of women (De Paola, Scoppa, & Lombardo, 2010), underrepresented groups have more trust in government agencies that passively represent them (Hong, 2016;Hong, 2017;Riccucci et al, 2014;Riccucci, Van Ryzin, & Jackson, 2018) and symbolic representation is a good in and of itself (Meier & Nicholson-Crotty, 2006). At the same time, there is substantial evidence that passive representation does not always result in active representation (Peters, Schröter, & von Maravič, 2015;Sowa & Selden, 2003;Wilkins & Williams, 2009). Our results help explain this tension.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representative bureaucracy, role congruence, and Kenya's gender quota

Hassan

O'Mealia

2020

Governance

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This article examines the subnational determinants of descriptive representation. Agency managers may be hesitant to hire women uniformly across all localities if they perceive geographic variation in role congruence, or the degree to which a position's duties match gender roles. We expect managerial perceptions to affect hiring patterns even after the adoption of a gender quota intended to improve descriptive representation, as managers will differentially hire women to meet the quota in localities where they perceive role congruence to be highest. Evidence from Kenya's most important security agency after the adoption of a gender quota supports the theory. Broadly, this article shows that aggregate quotas are at risk of being implemented in a way that undermines the spirit of the law. Slack in oversight pushes implementation to subnational areas where managers perceive the quota will be least disruptive, and ultimately, have the smallest effects on passive, let alone active, representation.

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Delivering public services in multi-ethnic societies: the challenge of representativeness

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Theoretical Frontiers in Representative Bureaucracy: New Directions for Research

Theoretical Frontiers in Representative Bureaucracy: New Directions for Research

Gender Representation and Student Performance: Representative Bureaucracy Goes to Korea

Representative bureaucracy, role congruence, and Kenya's gender quota

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