Popular Culture Informing Public Administration: Messages and Prospects for Social Equity

Perceptions of government and civil servants are shaped by a variety of factors including popular culture. In the public administration literature the significant role that film and other narrative forms have on citizens’ perceptions is duly noted, and there is ample research on politicians and military heroes in film, but a focus on civil servants remains largely elusive. Among the sparse literature centered on civil servants are studies that employ a case study approach or focus on a few films. In contrast, our research employs a large sample of 150 films. These films comprise the top ten box-office grossing films from 1992 through 2006; therefore we examine the films most likely to have been seen by a majority of movie-watching Americans. More than 60 percent of the films in our sample portray government as bad, inefficient, and incompetent. However, the data on more than 300 civil servants yield intriguing findings. Surprising, in light of the negative depiction of government, is the positive depiction of individual civil servants. Half of civil servants were positively portrayed, and only 40 percent were negatively depicted. Americans may view government negatively, but they see in film positive depictions of how individual civil servants can and do make a positive difference.

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A Conceptual Content Analysis of 75 Years of Diversity Research in Public Administration

Review of Public Personnel Administration ◽

10.1177/0734371x16671368 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 248-267 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Meghna Sabharwal ◽

Helisse Levine ◽

Maria D’Agostino

Keyword(s):

Content Analysis ◽

Public Administration ◽

Public Management ◽

Social Equity ◽

The State ◽

Central Issue ◽

Analysis Approach ◽

Conceptual Content ◽

Diversity In The Workplace ◽

Over Time

Diversity is an important facet of public administration, thus it is important to take stock and examine how the discipline has evolved in response to questions of representative democracy, social equity, and diversity. This article assesses the state-of-the-field by addressing the following question: How has research on diversity in the field of public administration progressed over time? Specifically, we seek to examine how the focus of diversity has transformed over time and the way the field has responded to half a century of legislation and policies aimed at both promoting equality and embracing difference. We utilize a conceptual content analysis approach to examine articles published on diversity in seven key public administration journals since 1940. The implications of this study are of great importance given that diversity in the workplace is a central issue for modern public management.

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Social Equity and Public Administration

Social Equity and LGBTQ Rights ◽

10.4324/9781351213509-1 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Lorenda A. Naylor

Keyword(s):

Public Administration ◽

Social Equity

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Public Administration And Social Equity

Diversity and Affirmative Action in Public Service ◽

10.4324/9780429500954-2 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 5-22

Author(s):

H. George Frederickson

Keyword(s):

Public Administration ◽

Social Equity

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Racial Bias: A Buried Cornerstone of the Administrative State

Administration & Society ◽

10.1177/0095399720921508 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 52 (10) ◽

pp. 1470-1490

Author(s):

Jennifer Alexander ◽

Camilla Stivers

Keyword(s):

Public Administration ◽

Racial Bias ◽

Diversity Training ◽

Social Equity ◽

Representative Bureaucracy ◽

Historical Narratives ◽

Administrative State ◽

Public Agencies ◽

Administrative Practices ◽

Self Image

Historians of American public administration have largely perpetuated its self-image of neutrality and scientific detachment. Yet public agencies are shaped by their political and cultural environments. Long-standing myths and historical narratives about the meaning of America reveal not neutrality but racial bias dating back centuries, a pattern sustained, in part, by failure to recognize its existence. This article explores how historical understandings of the administrative state have neglected the influence of racial bias on the development of administrative practices. We suggest that a reconstructed understanding may strengthen support for anti-racism efforts, such as diversity training, representative bureaucracy, and social equity.

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The state of social equity in American public administration

National Civic Review ◽

10.1002/ncr.117 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 94 (4) ◽

pp. 31-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

George Frederickson

Keyword(s):

Public Administration ◽

Social Equity ◽

The State

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Walking the Talk of Social Equity? Street-Level Bureaucrats’ Decisionmaking About the Provision of Personal Resources

The American Review of Public Administration ◽

10.1177/02750740211050577 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 027507402110505

Author(s):

Einat Lavee

Keyword(s):

Public Administration ◽

Low Income ◽

Social Service ◽

Service Providers ◽

Social Equity ◽

Personal Resources ◽

Personal Resource ◽

Social Service Providers ◽

Street Level ◽

Street Level Bureaucrats

While public administration scholars argue that core values of social equity are exceedingly important in service provision, less is known of how these values are practised on the frontline in the contemporary public administration. Research points to a dual trend: together with practices aimed at increasing clients’ wellbeing, public service workers’ decisions about allocating public resources are guided by moral perceptions of worthiness, leaving behind the most weakened populations. The current study aims to decipher this duality, analyzing street-level bureaucrats’ decisionmaking about providing personal resources to low-income clients, in order to examine whether the pursuit of social equity is manifested in informal practices. Drawing on indepth qualitative interviews of social service providers in Israel, we found that decisionmaking about personal resource provision is grounded in two distinct sets of values. Alongside a pattern of providing resources to deserving clients, street-level bureaucrats also provide them to clients typically considered undeserving. These latter practices are aimed at decreasing social inequality, demonstrating that social service providers often walk the talk of social equity.

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