A bureaucracy that is representative of the public it serves—passive representation—can result in both active representation and symbolic representation. Symbolic representation occurs when passive representation improves perceptions of legitimacy and enhances bureaucratic outcomes because the public is more cooperative and more likely to engage in coproduction. We present a new micro-theory of symbolic representation to show that symbolic benefits of passive representation depend on some level of positive treatment by bureaucrats. We then illustrate the utility of this theory with qualitative interviews from two cities with large populations of people of color and high proportions of police officers of color. The results suggest that increasing the demographic representativeness of the bureaucracy may be a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for improving the relationship between the public and the bureaucracy.

中文翻译：

---

官僚主义、民主和种族：象征性代表的局限

代表其所服务的公众的官僚机构——被动代表——可以导致主动代表和象征代表。当被动代表提高对合法性的看法并增强官僚结果时，就会出现符号代表，因为公众更合作，更可能参与共同生产。我们提出了一种新的符号表征微观理论，以表明被动表征的符号好处取决于官僚的某种程度的积极对待。然后，我们通过对两个拥有大量有色人种人口和高比例有色人种警察的城市的定性访谈来说明这一理论的效用。结果表明，增加官僚机构的人口代表性可能是必要的，但不是充分的，