Sorting Through: The Role of Representation in Bureaucracy

An ongoing weakness in the field of representative bureaucracy is an overreliance on quantitative analysis, partly driven by limited data availability. Studies have consistently relied on settings, such as education, where quantitative data are easily accessible. Although these studies provide great insight, the findings may not translate into other policy settings. The concept of role perception allows expansion of representative bureaucracy studies into a variety of settings. Using Q-sort analysis, this project explores bureaucratic role perception, focusing on how bureaucrats see their role as representatives and on the effects of descriptive representation and organizational setting. Four perspectives on representative bureaucracy are identified: leaders, traditional bureaucrats, identity empathizers, and diversity advocates. These perspectives reflect Pitkin’s discussion of representation and provide a more nuanced view of how bureaucrats see their roles. The findings suggest that (1) substantive representation may not require descriptive representation, (2) characteristics other than race and gender may be important, and (3) organizational variables may be related to bureaucrats’ role perceptions. These findings illuminate future theoretical and empirical research possibilities.