The Role of Organizational and Client Reactions in Understanding Representative Bureaucracy

Maayan Davidovitz, Tamar Shwartz-Ziv

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)151-162
Number of pages12
JournalAmerican Review of Public Administration
Volume54
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.

Keywords

  • LGBTQ+
  • active representation
  • minority groups
  • representative bureaucracy
  • street-level bureaucrats

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Public Administration
  • Marketing

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