Studies of representative bureaucracy (RB) argue public organizations reflective of the public they serve exhibit better outcomes, especially when serving underrepresented groups. RB theory attributes improved outcomes either to the actions representative bureaucrats take (active representation), or a greater perception of trust and legitimacy toward them by service recipients (symbolic representation), largely treating active and symbolic representation as separate phenomena. We explore the intricate relationship between bureaucracies and the populations they serve by observing the cross-influence between active and symbolic representation, as revealed by self-reported outcomes in discrimination complaints (N = 1,372) referred for voluntary mediation in the United States Postal Service, the REDRESS© program, a context in which mediators are highly limited in representing a claimant’s interests given the requirement of impartiality. In exit surveys measuring employee perceptions of organizational justice, we observed the impact of race and gender representation by gauging changes in reported satisfaction when a mediator’s race or gender matched the nature of the complaint in cases of race or sex discrimination and sexual harassment, via multivariate regression estimation. These analyses support RB theory regarding sexual harassment complaints, where complainants rated outcomes significantly more favorably for female mediators. We found a negative correlation between female mediators and sex discrimination complaints, as well as African American mediators and race discrimination complainants. To explain this discrepancy, we argue that interactions between symbolic and active representation determine the expectations and perceptions placed on bureaucrats. When a bureaucrat does not meet those expectations, service recipients tend to have a more negative view of organizational justice outcomes.

中文翻译：

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调解中的代议制官僚主义和组织正义

对代表性官僚机构 (RB) 的研究认为，反映他们所服务的公众的公共组织表现出更好的结果，尤其是在为代表性不足的群体服务时。RB 理论将改进的结果归因于代表官僚采取的行动（积极代表），或者服务接受者对他们的信任和合法性的更大感知（符号代表），在很大程度上将积极代表和象征代表视为独立的现象。我们通过观察积极代表和象征代表之间的交叉影响来探索官僚机构与其所服务的人群之间的错综复杂的关系，正如美国邮政局自愿调解的歧视投诉（N = 1,372）中的自我报告结果所揭示的那样， REDRESS© 计划，鉴于公正的要求，调解员在代表申请人利益方面受到高度限制的情况。在测量员工对组织公正的看法的离职调查中，我们通过多元变量测量当调解员的种族或性别与种族或性别歧视和性骚扰案件中投诉的性质相匹配时报告的满意度变化，观察种族和性别代表性的影响回归估计。这些分析支持关于性骚扰投诉的 RB 理论，其中投诉人对女性调解员的评价结果​​明显更有利。我们发现女性调解员与性别歧视投诉，以及非裔美国人调解员和种族歧视投诉人之间存在负相关。为了解释这种差异，我们认为，象征性和主动性表征之间的相互作用决定了对官僚的期望和看法。当官僚不满足这些期望时，服务接受者往往对组织公正结果有更消极的看法。