The literature on the link between passive and active representation is well established, but there is still some debate on why and how passive representation translates into active representation in some settings and not others. Some scholars suggest the salience of the policy issue and discretion to act yields a linkage between passive and active representation, while others contend researchers are simply identifying correlates of the two concepts not linkages. However, many studies miss the dynamic relationship between representation and the external environment, so this research explains the manner in which external, environmental pressures influence bureaucratic discretion and active representation. Interdependences between service organizations and the external environment can restrict bureaucratic discretion through resource dependence and cues of expectations and professional norms, or bureaucrats may use the relationship to enhance their discretion. Using an original dataset of the 1,800 largest U.S. school districts over two school terms, I compare the level of disparity in academic grouping across racial groups in two distinct external environments, racially balanced and imbalanced school districts, and find that minority bureaucrats use their discretion to improve the odds of minority students’ assignment to gifted education, but external, environmental control moderates the significance of active representation. The passive to active representation link is weakened based on the operating policy environment. This work offers some insight on the restrictions and limits to active representation, and the empirical findings hold implications for the governance of public organizations and the outcomes of public policies.
This article uses the South African case to look at the concept of descriptive representation—an important element in the theory of representative bureaucracy. Considerable literature has examined the relationship between descriptive representation, or the number of members of an identity group that are present in a public sector organization, and active representation, the extent to which those representatives pursue the interests of those they are presumed to represent. Less studied is the descriptive representation side of the equation. Descriptive representation should not be seen as simply a matter of counting the numbers of members of identity groups in an organization. Rather, one should also ask whether the identity groups that are to be privileged for representation make sense. This article explores the extent to which challenges in identity formation and classification alter passive representation and the potential for active representation. We consider how those targeted for representation in the new democratic South Africa are defined and the tension and issues the definition has caused for the government's stated policy of achieving a representative public service.