Justice in Black and Brown: The impact of political control and representative bureaucracy on street level outcomes

Drawing upon representative bureaucracy theory, this study investigates the relationship between passive and symbolic representation by examining the extent to which a more passively representative public organization would be attractive as an employer. The study involved a randomized survey experiment of members of the public in the US and UK. Overall, and contrary to the theory of representative bureaucracy, results show that women found a male‐dominated police department more attractive. The explanation for the results of the study may lie in bureaucratic reputation as a boundary condition of symbolic representation.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representative bureaucracy and organizational attractiveness: An experimental study of symbolic representation of the US and UK police

Johnston

Alberti

Kravariti

2023

“…Jackson, Neshkova, and Meier (2023) examine disparities in public service provision from two theoretical perspectives—political control and representative bureaucracy. Their compelling study examines whether the political and group identities of top elected law enforcement officials affect the distribution of youth arrests, alternatives, and prosecutions among minority groups.…”

Section: In This Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond social equity: Talking social justice in public administration

Stivers

Pandey

DeHart‐Davis

et al. 2023

PAR Editorials seek to raise the salience of important public administration themes. Social justice is one of the defining themes of our times and in this editorial statement, we clarify some basic issues and offer a vision for future scholarship and practice. This statement is co-authored with notable public administration scholars, many affiliated with the Consortium of Race and Gender Scholars (CORGES). I am especially grateful to Cam Stivers, Sanjay Pandey, and Leisha DeHart-Davis for their leadership in crafting this editorial statement.

“…As Palus and Yackee (2016) state, “Agency leaders often enjoy disproportionate power over policy administration’ (Krause & O'Connell, 2011, p. 2)” (p 699). However, again, much literature focuses on the bureaucratic discretion held by street‐level bureaucrats and not on the upper managerial layers of an agency (Garrow & Grusky, 2013; Jackson et al, 2022; Keulemans & Groeneveld, 2020; Meier & Bohte, 2001). Higher echelons within state agencies, for example agency heads, have yet to be analyzed with the same vigor.…”

Section: Oversight Communication and Intersectionality In Bureaucracymentioning

confidence: 99%

Contact and control: Engagement and influence among women of color state agency heads

Uttermark

Dula

Bové

et al. 2023

While scholarship is delving into the representation of women and people of color within the U.S. bureaucracy, less is known about these individuals' discretion within their roles. Using an intersectionality framework, this article explores the experiences of women of color in leadership roles within state government agencies, their communication with elected superiors, and perceptions of their own policy discretion and communication compared with White men and women, and men of color. Leveraging the American State Administrators Project, we find that women of color have less communication with elected officials and their staff but also perceive that they have less discretionary control over their departments. This article highlights that while women of color are increasing in leadership roles within state bureaucracies, disparities exist between women of color and their colleagues. We call attention to the disproportionate levels of oversight and discretion perceived by women of color.