Representative bureaucracy in the south african public service. Representative bureaucracy, organizational effectiveness. This prizewinning study examines the impact of the employment of women and ethnic and racial minorities in public organizations on the implementation of government programs by those agencies. Greater representation of blacks, women and those with disabilities will. The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that a public workforce representative of the people in terms of race, ethnicity, and sex will help ensure that the interests of all groups. Representative bureaucracy and distributional equity. If you would like more information about how to print. This paper does not test whether actions of the bureaucracy are representative, whether a. In section four, i compare the policy attitudes and policy preferences of bureaucrats. A bureaucracy that is responsive to the needs and desires of the population should be held in higher regard. A study in the attitudes of federal executives kenneth john meier and lloyd g.
Bureaucratic representation, distributional equity, and democratic values in the administration of public programs jill nicholsoncrotty university of missouri jason a. Approaches to representative bureaucracy in nation building must also be built. Bureaucracy, it is true, runs and in many cases efficiently the administration but it is also the source of maladministration. Indeed, and supporting previous research on representative bureaucracy, only. Bureaucratic representation, distributional equity, and. Public administration and public policy selden, sally coleman on. Idealtype bureaucracy max weber introduction the term bureaucracy has not come with the article of max weber because this word had been seen in 1745 for the first time, but must be clear about the fact that max webers name is synonymous with. The theory of representative bureaucracy is based on the belief that a bureaucracy that reflects the composition of the public will better serve diverse interests and democratic principles. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise cambridge core to connect with your account.
This text on representive bureaucracy covers topics such as. So we finally say that the need to control it is to be given utmost priority. Article information, pdf download for representative bureaucracy. Representative bureaucracy theory and research provide a growing body of empirical evidence that it does. Central to the representative bureaucracy performance claim has been the distinction between passive representation whether the bureaucratic workforce looks. Representative bureaucracy, recidivism, education, public. Representative bureaucracy download representative bureaucracy ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format. As a result, representative bureaucracy supports the hiring of a diverse body of experiences with the intent of those experiences being used to inform the programs and services provided by government hamidullah et al. Donald kingsleys 1944 book by the same title, that public bureaucracies can be. Representation, bureaucracy, race, gender, teacherstudent relationships, student outcomes.
In this article, we assess the application of representative bureaucracy. Representative bureaucracy and the role of expertise in politics. Representative bureaucracy the term representative bureaucracy was given currency in 1949 through donald kingsleys book with the same title and since then it has gained popularity through the discussions of a few american political scientists and british sociologists. A typology of normative institutional strategies for the representation of women introduction there remain persistent low levels of female representation in political and public life. The bureaucracy and governance in 16 developing countries. Two early documents establishing modern administrations clearly reflect this.
According to kingsley 1944, descriptive representation in public agencies is essential. What we know about it in this section, our aim is not to subject the idea of representative bureaucracy to a critical analysis, especially from the perspectives of pros and cons but simply to explain what it means, the various types of representativeness in the bureaucracy, and how this representativeness may. Does female police leadership affect gender based violence arrests. Karen johnston and john houston abstract representative bureaucracy theory postulates that passive representation leads to active representation of minority groups. Taking a comparative and analytical perspective, the authoritative and accessible chapters illustrate the salience of representative politics in diverse societies. The theory originates in an analysis of the social class composition of the british civil service by kingsley in 1944. The rules that determine procedures in the bureaucracy, whether formal or informal, are especially important for public perceptions of how the state operates. The structural features of bureaucracy bureaucracy has been central to public administration. This course aims to address the concept of public administration from a number of perspectives. It takes the kernel of the idea, inchoately introduced in j. Representative bureaucracy, distributional equity, and. Representative bureaucracy theory postulates that passive representation leads to active representation of minority groups.
The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that a demographically diverse public sector workforce passive representation will lead to policy outcomes that reflect the interests of all. The article addresses an issue that has received little attention in the literature on representative bureaucracy, namely the relationship between representativeness and specialized expertise in public administration. Bureaucratic representationthe idea that a governmental organization is better situated to serve its clients. The term representative bureaucracy is generally attributed to j. Download pdf representative bureaucracy free online. This paper explores the role of representative bureaucracy and bureaucratic discretion in the allocation of federal disaster assistance to hurricane sandy survivors. Passive representation occurs when bureaucracy includes individuals from specified groups such as women, racial and ethnic minorities within its ranks bradbury and kellough, 2011. This study examines the association between the degree to which a police force is ethnically representative of the population it serves and the forces engagement in racial profiling as a policing tactic.
The pdf file you selected should load here if your web browser has a pdf reader plugin installed for example. Representative bureaucracy, organizational strategy, and. Employment equity in the public service of canada carol agocs department of political science, western university a representative bureaucracy is essential to democratic governance in a diverse society, and it is the responsibility of government to be a model employer that exemplifies progressive human resource. This paper investigates the passive representation of. Representative bureaucracy and specialist knowledge in the. The webbased format also provided the additional benefit of permitting. This article investigates the passive representation of female police officers at leadership levels and the active representation of women visavis genderbased violence arrest rates in the uk. The pdf file you selected should load here if your web browser has a pdf reader plugin installed for example, a recent version of adobe acrobat reader.
They may file complaints andor enact behaviors such as turnover, absenteeism, conflict, lower productivity and even sabotage, or. With over two million inmates, the united states has the largest prison population in the world. Finally, we link representative bureaucracy research with literature on women and men in leadership to illustrate the theoretical framework and hypotheses on which this study is based. Representative bureaucracy and the american political system. Pdf a contingency approach to representative bureaucracy. Studies on representative bureaucracy have often confirmed the positive performance effects of bureaucracies mirroring the. The normative underpinnings of representative bureaucracy can be traced to kingsley 1944 who theorized that the social composition of bureaucracies should reflect the people they serve as a function of democratic rule.
Representative bureaucracy and the role of expertise in politics views. Representative bureaucracy, an interpretation of the british. Representative bureaucracy, streetlevel bureaucrats and. Few will dispute the assertion that governments, especially at the state and local level, are in the business of providing services. Click download or read online button to representative bureaucracy book pdf for free now. A public service broadly representative of the population is a constitutional principle and legislative goal to be achieved through affirmative action and related policies government pronounced an instrumental role for representative bureaucracy. A representative bureaucracy is understood to be one that consists of a workforce that reflects the composition of the citizens of the country. The term representative bureaucracy was first given currency in 1949 through donald kingsleys book with the same title and since then it has gained popularity through the discussions of a few american political scientists and british sociologists. Exploring the potential for active representation in local government article pdf available in journal of public administration research and theory 184 october.
Pdf scholars and practitioners have long questioned whether the. Driving the study is the question of whether the concept of representative government applies also to the permanent governmentthe bureaucracy. There is also a widespread apprehension that an unchecked bureaucracy will demise representative form of government. Informants had eight weeks to answer the questions within the file, save it. The concept of the representative bureaucracy that reflects and meets the needs of a diverse population, even when elected officials do not, is an old idea among bureaucracy scholars. The theory of representative bureaucracy considers how the sharing of demographic characteristics between public administrators and service populations translates into improved service delivery and links to broader themes of democracy and equality. Representative bureaucracy and public service performance perg. In section three, i describe the survey data i examine in the paper. Representative bureaucracy and the american political.
Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing pdf files. Donald kingsleys book titled representative bureaucracy that was published in 1944. The vast majority of existing studies on bureaucratic representation focus on. While social science explanations have examined the growth in incarceration, little work examines the treatment of inmates inside prisons. The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that a demographically diverse public sector workforce passive representation will lead to policy outcomes that reflect the interests of all groups represented, including historically disadvantaged communities active representation.
Diversity and responsiveness in a government agency. However, local governments were never substantively empowered as they were formed in a topdown manner in urban and rural areas, with extremely circumscribed functions and members who were not locally elected but nominated by the british bureaucracy tinker 1968. Smith 2014 argued that the presence of a diverse government workforce not only implies equal access to. The public service in 1994 was not only unrepresentative of all. To download the pdf, click the download link above. The latest versions of adobe reader do not support viewing pdf files within firefox on mac os and if you are using a modern intel mac. Representative bureaucracy recent studies of the theory of representative bureaucracy have focused on active representation, whereby administrators in public organizations work to advance the interests of particular groups, achieving policy outcomes that directly address the needs of those groups. The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that a public. While much scholarship has addressed the theory and tested it in a variety of public settings, further study is necessary. In the present context, an argument consistent with a representative bureaucracy in the context of environmental regulation and economic development translates into two hypotheses. Bureaucracy and social change seymour martin lipset. Representative bureaucracy and public service performance. It is because the characteristic of bureaucracy make it behave in predictable way 1.
A representative bureaucracy within a democratic system of government is specifically relevant in south africa. Eurostat, official documents detailing the staff composition of the commission. In their examination of representative bureaucracy as exhibited by county supervisors in the farmers home administration fmha, selden, brudney, and kellough found that race was the strongest predictor of adherence to a minority representative role, and thatin turnassumption of this minority representative. Representative bureaucracy, organizational effectiveness and. Oct 03, 2012 professor samuel krislovs representative bureaucracy remains among the most important and enduring books in the field of public administration and its intersection with political science. In his book, kingsley calls for a liberalization of social class selection for the english bureaucracy, due to the dominance of social, political, and economic elites within the british bureaucracy which he claimed resulted in. Through the analysis of focus groups and key informant interviews, this study finds that fema home inspectors are not diverse in reference to race and gender. This paper investigates the passive representation of female police officers at leadership levels and the active representation of women visavis gender based violence arrest rates in the uk.
The normative underpinnings of representative bureaucracy can be traced to kingsley 1944 who theorized that the social composition of bureaucracies should reflect the people. Sep 28, 2014 the structural features of bureaucracy bureaucracy has been central to public administration. First, we should expect to observe bureaucrats and the public sharing similar underlying attitudes on environmental regulation. The research question of this article is to examine the extent to which the south african public service conforms to the concept of representative bureaucracy. With this notion, representative bureaucracy is a form of representation that captures most or all aspects of a societys population in the governing body of the state. Bureaucracy and representative government by niskanen, william a. The theory of representative bureaucracy posits that a public workforce will be more effective and legitimized if it is demographically reflective of the clients it serves. Some may argue that managing diversity is a luxury for the civil service leaders of a few countries who have already addressed more urgent tasks in public service. The domination of policing by white males has long been considered a threat to the legitimacy of the profession, as police agencies have struggled with attracting, retaining, and promoting women and minorities within their agencies for decades. Relying on the theory of representative bureaucracy specifically, the notion of symbolic representationthis article examines whether varying the number of female public officials overseeing a local recycling program influences citizens especially womens willingness to cooperate with the government by recycling, thus coproducing important policy outcomes. The bureaucracy, however, should not only be studied in the context of implementation of individual policies, but also in terms of governance. What is representative bureaucracy, its pros and cons. Specialized jurisdiction, office, task and division of labor and authority regarding the achievement of organization goal 2.
Though these authors primary goal is demonstrating active representation for. Administrative discretion and active representation. Representative bureaucracy, an interpretation of the british civil service. Passive and active representation in the federal service. Representative bureaucracy and the role of expertise in. The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that organizations perform better. Representative bureaucracy and the american political system 208 pages sonblock how christians unknowingly shield themselves from grace, carol razza, denis eirikis, aug 3, 2001, religion, 158 pages another release in our popular how to do everything series, this friendly, solutionsoriented. The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that a public workforce representative of the people in terms of race, ethnicity, and sex will help ensure that the interests of all groups are considered in bureaucratic decisionmaking processes.
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