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Representative Bureaucracy Essay

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Implications and Discussion. Although research has shown the importance of having a representative bureaucracy, the perceptions and attitudes of employees and managers alike are interesting to consider. Soni (2000) sought to better understand workplace diversity and workplace diversity initiatives in place by surveying the employees and managers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The survey asked questions pertaining to the impact of perceptions held by employees and managers in the workplace. She found that while employees and managers viewed diversity as a salient issue in the workplace, the perception surrounding it varied by race and gender groupings. In addition, the difference in perceptions is in the perception of discrimination. …show more content…

The impact of increasingly salient topics such as race and gender are important for the future of public administration. Considering the soon to come changes in the ethnic make-up of the United States, the future of bureaucracies is heavily reliant on the successful adoption of representative bureaucracies. These bureaucracies must attempt to represent the population both passively and actively. Once passively represented, the research presented suggests that the active representation will soon follow. By adopting this well researched focus, I would argue that there would be an increase in responsiveness and a possible re-implementation of the New Public Service administrative model. Passive and active representation would essentially provide the platform for bureaucracies to serve the population rather than steer the population. Furthermore, there would be an increased awareness on the role of administrators and bureaucracies to advocate for democratic citizenship, community and civil society, and organizational humanism (Denhardt and Denhardt ,

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