“As Expected”: Theoretical Implications for Racialized Administrative Power as the Status Quo

Abstract

This article posits that racialized administrative power is the status quo in the United States and results from a wicked problem broadly construed as institutional racism. Acknowledging a baseline reality of racialized administrative power in the US allows public administration theory to more directly grapple with the institutional racism that paradoxically may seem too big and complex to empirically study yet simultaneously too important and urgent to ignore. This article offers three contributions to the development of public administration theory from this conceptual frame of racialized administrative power as the status quo. First, by conceptualizing institutional racism as a wicked problem, a case is outlined to replace an assumption of neutral administrative power with a baseline assumption of racialized administrative power in the US. Second, the article explores two prominent areas of theory in public administration – representative bureaucracy and administrative burden – to demonstrate how a baseline assumption of racialized administrative power can reorient and expand theoretical questions and research. Third, the article discusses the epistemological implications for public administration theory and research based on an assumption that racialized administrative power is the status quo. These contributions offer a step forward in addressing the need for public administration theory to better account for the institutional racism that pervades the management and performance of public organizations in the US.

Anti‐racism in the Public Service of Canada: How can critical race theory inform research and practice in Canadian public administration?

“…Blume (2023) notes that research in the field is focused on addressing systemic racism indirectly. Research topics include diversity, equity, and bureaucratic representation, while articles addressing systemic racism directly are rare (Blume, 2023). Althaus and O'Faircheallaigh (2022) and Pandey et al (2023) underscore that the studies on race in public administration are underpinned by the assumptions from representative bureaucracy theory.…”

“…Yet CRT has not been widely adopted by public administration scholars. Blume (2023) notes that research in the field is focused on addressing systemic racism indirectly. Research topics include diversity, equity, and bureaucratic representation, while articles addressing systemic racism directly are rare (Blume, 2023).…”

“…Some of the representative bureaucracy studies, however, go beyond looking at passive representation and explore the extent to which diversity in the public service impacts better policy outcomes for the underrepresented groups (Mau, 2020). However, as Blume (2023) notes, public administration theory assumes “administrative neutrality” and does not account for “baseline racial discrimination” within public service (Blume, 2023, p. 30). In other words, public administration research does not consider existing public service institutions, culture, and processes as “racist by design.”…”

“…This issue applies to the PSC as well (TBS, 2023). This presents a serious challenge for racialized public servants to confront public service's institutional processes, practices, and culture as those in administrative positions have limited ability to bring about change within the public service and influence policy outcomes (Blume, 2023).…”

“…Finally, a growing body of scholarship argues that CRT should be more widely applied in public administration to explore how systemic racism bears upon on racialized public servants, in addition to the impacts of individual racism (Blume, 2023; Pandey et al, 2023). Riccucci (2022) argues that the experiences of racialized public servants are largely missing from the discipline.…”