Texas Cities in the Era of Government Transparency

We are in the Era of Government Transparency. Recently, politicians from President Barack Obama to Texas Governor Rick Perry have touted a commitment to openness and transparency in their respective administrations. Citizens have also embraced the idea. No longer content with viewing the government as a mysterious black box where taxes go in and services come out, taxpayers today expect, and in some cases demand, to know how decisions are made. As discussions ensue about growing distrust between citizens and government, increased transparency can offer a way to bridge this divide. Clear, organized and useful data posted online is a good indicator of a city’s transparency. It is best for city governments to engage their citizens in a dialogue about what information the public wants and what format will encourage them to best use it

The Myth of Bureaucratic Neutrality: Institutionalized Inequity in Local Government Hiring

As a field, we often relate merit and neutrality to the technical skills needed to be the “best” candidate for a job, but that was not necessarily what civil service reformers had in mind. The civil service system was meant to replace widespread political patronage, but the myth around the origins of the civil service system masked inequalities built into early testing requirements and institutionalized racial inequities in hiring practices. In this article, we argue the founding myth of bureaucratic neutrality was so powerful that it continues to reverberate in our field. We trace the current reverberations of the myth of neutrality through modern hiring practices and the contemporary legal landscape. By doing this, we present a systematic review of this rationalized myth in public employment, using an institutionalism framework. As the myth of bureaucratic neutrality continues to permeate decision-making, policy creation, and implementation, it will continue to institutionalize inequity within the field

Representative Bureaucracy Theory and the Implicit Embrace of Whiteness and Masculinity

Throughout much of representative bureaucracy literature, scholars have primarily focused on the representation of people seen as other in the professional workforce-people of color and women. However, whiteness and masculinity have been central to the development of public administration as a field of scholarship and practice. As a field, we have often avoided explicit discussions regarding the impact whiteness and masculinity. We argue that silences around race and gender have significant implications. Using representative bureaucracy as a frame, we seek to highlight how acknowledging whiteness and masculinity in our scholarship can help provide a more comprehensive understanding of race and gender in public administration

The Oblivious Organization: Understanding Racial Stereotypes in the Public Sector

Organizational obliviousness is a theoretical framework that acknowledges how socially constructed stereotypes of marginalized groups become embedded individually, culturally, and institutionally within organizations. Prior work on organizational obliviousness has focused on exploring gender within organizational contexts. This work builds on previous scholarship on organizational obliviousness in the public sector and discussions of race in public organizations. It also builds on applying the organizational obliviousness framework in order to understand how racialized and intersectional forms of oppression manifest within public organizations. Specifically, we use the organizational obliviousness framework to explore how grooming and appearance policies that seem neutral on the surface can be exclusionary and grounded in racial stereotypes

Dismantling Institutional and Structural Racism: Implementation Strategies Across the United States

The field of public administration writes and theorizes a good deal about institutional and structural racism, but as an applied field, we don’t address some of the potential intervention strategies for dismantling racist structures and institutions. This article examines some of the prospective strategies in areas such as reparations, criminal justice, health care, and housing which have been implemented seeking to upend institutional and structural racism in this nation. Policies or programs, unless implemented, create a revolving-door syndrome. However, even when policies are developed and implemented, their efficacy is not always guaranteed, as will be seen. This article discusses how public administration can move away from the “ready, aim, study more” conundrum, and offers suggestions for moving forward to the next frontier

Replication data for: Comparing Discrete Distributions: Survey Validation and Experiments

The zipped data and codes needed to replicate the analysis, simulations, tables, and figures in "Comparing Discrete Distributions: Survey Validation and Experiments," by Kishore Gawande, Gina Yannitell Reinhardt, Carol L. Silva, and Domonic A. Bearfield, forthcoming in Political Analysis

The myth of bureaucratic neutrality an examination of merit and representation

"In a system discredited by political corruption, the notion of bureaucratic neutrality was presented during the Progressive era as strategy to restore legitimacy in government. However, bureaucratic neutrality also served as a barrier to equity in government. This book argues that neutrality is a myth that has been used as a means to oppress marginalized communities, largely disconnected from its origins within the field of public administration. A historical perspective of how the field has understood race and gender demonstrates how it has centered whiteness, masculinity, and heteronormativity in research and administrative practices, mistaking them for neutrality in public service. Using a historically grounded positionality approach, the authors trace the myth of bureaucratic neutrality back to its origins and highlight how it has institutionalized inequity, both legally and culturally. Ultimately, the authors demonstrate that the only way to move towards equity is to understand how inequity has become institutionalized, and to constantly work to improve our systems and decision making. With constituents across the globe demanding institutional changes in government that will establish new practices and mediate generations of inequality, The Myth of Bureaucratic Neutrality is required reading for public administration scholars, practitioners, and students"-