Representative Bureaucracy: Further Evidence of Active Representation in the EEOC District Offices

This research examines active bureaucratic representation in the American context. It focuses discussion on behavior of bureaucrats in the district offices of one agency in the federal bureaucracy. More specifically, we examine the policy impact of three ethnic and racial groups of federal civil servants (black, white, and Hispanic) as they implement federal equal employment opportunity policy. Three questions are addressed within a general framework which seeks to synthesize the two concepts of bureaucracy and representation. First, the passive representation question, How are the three groups distributed within the agency's work force? Second, the question of active representation, Does the passive representation of a particular group affect the distribution of policy outputs? Third, the empirical theory question, If active representation occurs, how? The strategy of inquiry is as follows. The first section of the article examines the concept of representative bureaucracy to clarify critical empirical issues. The second section shows how implementation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides an appropriate opportunity to test theories of active bureaucratic representation. The next section of the paper compares observed implementation behavior with theoretically suggested behavior to determine whether active bureaucratic representation occurs in the agency which implements Title VII, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The article concludes with a discussion of the concept of active representative democracy in light of the findings that have been presented.