The Role of Organizational and Client Reactions in Understanding Representative Bureaucracy

The public administration literature has long observed the efforts of street-level bureaucrats to actively represent the clients with whom they share a social or demographic identity. However, it has not examined the responses that street-level bureaucrats receive when they represent minorities and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American review of public administration 2024-02, Vol.54 (2), p.151-162
Main Authors: Davidovitz, Maayan, Shwartz-Ziv, Tamar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bureaucracy
Clients
Identity
LGBTQ people
Minority & ethnic groups
Minority groups
Policy implementation
Public administration
Responses
Teachers
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Summary:The public administration literature has long observed the efforts of street-level bureaucrats to actively represent the clients with whom they share a social or demographic identity. However, it has not examined the responses that street-level bureaucrats receive when they represent minorities and how these responses shape how they use discretion in implementing policies. We explore these issues empirically through in-depth interviews with 23 Israeli Arab social and community workers and 32 Israeli LGBTQ+ teachers. This exploratory study reveals the variety of reactions that street-level bureaucrats encounter when representing minorities. Furthermore, it highlights the significant role of reactions from clients and organizations in encouraging, reducing, or impeding the efforts of minority street-level bureaucrats to represent those with whom they share an identity, which, in turn, underscores the importance of external responses for confirming and legitimizing active representation.
ISSN:0275-0740
1552-3357
DOI:10.1177/02750740231200448