Barriers to Representation: Selection Processes and Political Diversity in US Urban Bureaucracy

Research underscores the importance of representative bureaucracies for public service provision, yet partisan and racial gaps persist in US street-level agencies. What drives this misrepresentation within professionalized local bureaucracies? Using novel data on over 300,000 bureaucrats in New York City, this study offers three findings. First, there is significant sorting across agencies, with the police, fire, and sanitation departments showing strong Republican, White, and male dominance. Second, examining recruitment at the NYPD reveals that, despite comparable qualifications and representativeness among candidates, Republican and White applicants have a higher likelihood of being hired. Equalizing hiring rates across partisanship and race could boost the recruitment of underrepresented groups by as much as 61%. Third, once hired, Republican and White officers are also more likely to be promoted, awarded, and have longer tenures. By offering new evidence on the determinants and institutional context of bureaucratic representation, this study calls for a more nuanced understanding of how and when it impacts governance outcomes.