Organizational Involvement and Representative Bureaucracy: Can We Have It Both Ways?

Abstract

This article addresses an important issue of democratic theory and administration: the potential conflict between bureaucrats' allegiance to their agencies and to specific publics' interests. Representative bureaucracy, which emphasizes substantive interest representation in the administrative arena, embodies this potential for conflict. Empirical survey results which probe integration of substantive representation and employee allegiance among federal employees in four major agencies are presented. Evidence documents a different level of organizational involvement in an agency with a substantive representation mandate compared to employee involvement in agencies without a mandate for representation. While the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' mandate affords considerable potential for integrating substantive representation and employee allegiance, its employees do not rank highly in organizational involvement. Even more surprising, CCR minority employees are lowest in involvement. These findings imply an important hypothesis: effectiveness in achieving an agency mandate is crucial to successful integration of organizational involvement and substantive representation.

The Role of Organizations in Fostering Public Service Motivation

“…Th is research has provided some qualifi ed insights: Reducing red tape and undertaking reform that clarifi es goals and empowers employees can have a positive eff ect on employee PSM. Other research suggests that helping employees feel as if they are meaningfully contributing to organizational goals reduces employee frustration and strengthens commitment (Romzek and Hendricks 1982). Th e element common in these suggestions is the importance of encouraging public employees to feel that they are personally contributing to an organization that performs a valuable service, without unnecessary restrictions or controls on their eff orts.…”

“…Th ere is some empirical evidence in the context of PSM to support this claim. Romzek and Hendricks (1982) suggest that the inability of public organizations to satisfy a desire to serve will lead to disinterest or hostility as PSM turns into frustration. Crewson (1997) found that organizational commitment is partly dependent on the sense of trust and affi liation that workers have with fellow employees.…”

“…In addition, employees may gradually recognize the ineff ectiveness of the organization in achieving its goals, further undermining PSM. Members who joined an organization with a strong commitment to public service may fi nd themselves increasingly frustrated as time passes, as their hopes to contribute are dashed (Romzek and Hendricks 1982). In short, length of organizational membership refl ects the cumulative eff ects of being in a particular work environment over time, both good and bad.…”

The Effects of Job Security, Features, Personal Values, and Recognition on Organizational Involvement

“…Etzioni (1974) devised an intensity continuum for the employees' psychological attachment towards their workplace with the two ends of the continuum which are: (1) the alienated; and (2) the strongly attached employee. Romzek and Hendricks (1982) related the values those employees hold, and the values of their relatives and friends, to the degree of the employee's psychological attachment to the organization. If those values were not in alignment with those of the organization, then there would be a high possibility of an alienated attachment, and vice versa.…”

“…Ingraham and Barrilleaux (1983) studied the variables affecting the organizational involvement for employees, and concluded that the fewer tendencies the organization is having towards promoting its employees, the less the psychological attachment they should expect from them. As a result of surveying and analyzing the data for 484 public organizations, Romzek (1985) and Romzek and Hendricks (1982) found a strong positive correlation between the recognition those employees receive and their attachment to the organization, especially among senior staff. They also found moderately strong correlations with high significance level between the organizational involvement and the job security perception.…”