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Representative Bureaucracy

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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

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Synonyms

Civil service bureaucracy; Racial representation

Definition

Active Representation:

The degree to which the social characteristics of the bureaucracy lead them to advocate for the interest of their social or demographic group.

Appropriated Representation:

Hereditary right.

Bureaucracy:

The civil service arm of the executive branch of government.

Descriptive Bureaucracy:

The agency mirrors the dominant groups in society.

Passive Representation:

The degree to which the social characteristics of the bureaucracy represent the social characteristics of the clients in the population.

Virtual Representation:

Identity of interests.

Introduction

In the field of public administration, considerable debate concerning the representation of minorities in the public bureaucracy attracts significant attention. The theory of representative bureaucracy developed at a time when there was concern about elected officials holding important policymaking positions in government agencies. Civil...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of POL, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, 61790-4600, USA

    Nancy S. Lind

Authors
  1. Nancy S. Lind
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nancy S. Lind .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Lind, N.S. (2016). Representative Bureaucracy. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_656-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_656-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Representative Bureaucracy
    Published:
    12 December 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_656-2

  2. Original

    Representative Bureaucracy
    Published:
    25 June 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_656-1

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