Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Diversity and representation research involved a wide range of empirical questions is increasingly popular. Demographic traits that define minority groups are multiple and often overlap: demographic characteristics, such as gender, race, religion, language, sexuality, and functional diversity in terms of skills, educations, political preference, and work experience. However, it is little known about how intersectional identity and identity share works and what that means for representation. The theory of representative bureaucracy assumes that passive representation, i.e., the extent to which bureaucrats resemble target populations they serve in terms of demographic characteristics, transfers to active representation but not always. Demographic congruence between citizens and bureaucrats, therefore, is a necessary but not sufficient condition to link passive representation with active representation.

This research explores how citizen clients perceive government services differently and whether and how identity share with public officials affects their perception of government. We examine the compounded effect of intersectional identity in situations where the degree of representation differs in terms of gender and race. We expect that people in multiple minority groups may react differently to public services; and more specifically, the more people shares identity, the greater they accept government as legitimate and efficient. The three questions that this study aims to answer are: (1) How does intersectional identity work in perceptions of government performance? (2) How does a preferred diversity dimension change according to clients’ demographic characteristics? (3) How do clients weigh equity against other values?

As an attempt to further conceptual development, this study employs a series of vignette experiment survey. The link between demographic gaps and citizens’ perception about the quality and legitimacy of government services is worthy of more attention for public policy and management scholarship. This is an especially pressing question in the context of public safety and law enforcement where discrimination based on clients’ backgrounds stands out more often than others (Hong 2016; Meier and Nicholson-Crotty 2006). The mediating role of identity shares offers a partial answer to the “why” question that has been tested in previous research. We control the effect influenced by age, education, political preference, and employment status.

Our study is designed to extend the literature by focusing on demographic gaps and intersectionality. We intend to recruit and collect data from participant representative of the general population of the US age above 20. Exploring how citizens perceive government legitimacy and effectiveness according to the demographic composition of public agencies will broaden our understanding of the representation mechanisms. Another contribution of this study is to provide public officials with the ground of diversity considerations in delivering public services that require close interaction with citizen clients.