Bureaucracy, democracy, and race: the limits of symbolic representation

Headley, Andrea M., Wright, James E. and Meier, Kenneth J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6378-0855 2021. Bureaucracy, democracy, and race: the limits of symbolic representation. Public Administration Review 81 (6) , pp. 1033-1043. 10.1111/puar.13358

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Abstract

A bureaucracy that is representative of the public it serves—passive representation—can result in both active representation and symbolic representation. Symbolic representation occurs when passive representation improves perceptions of legitimacy and enhances bureaucratic outcomes because the public is more cooperative and more likely to engage in coproduction. We present a new micro-theory of symbolic representation to show that symbolic benefits of passive representation depend on some level of positive treatment by bureaucrats. We then illustrate the utility of this theory with qualitative interviews from two cities with large populations of people of color and high proportions of police officers of color. The results suggest that increasing the demographic representativeness of the bureaucracy may be a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for improving the relationship between the public and the bureaucracy.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0033-3352
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	7 February 2022
Date of Acceptance:	25 January 2021
Last Modified:	07 Nov 2023 17:32
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/147052

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