Files
Abstract
The theory of representative bureaucracy has evolved immensely, but little focus has been placed on determining how identity characteristics (e.g., race, gender, disability) affect the link between passive and active representation. This dissertation attempts to identify how active representation could differ across various identities. Previous research examining this issue has been reviewed and has shown mixed results. This dissertation uses the visibility of an identity to observe whether there is a difference in active representation between agencies with a high ratio of visible disabilities. Finally, this work looks into the unique factor of identity disclosure that is crucial for people with invisible identities and how this connects with representation. These findings emphasize the importance of considering different identities regarding representative bureaucracy literature and open the field to various social minority identities. Overall, the results show that while visibility of identities could impact the link between passive and active representation, it takes organizations’ effort to help people with invisible identities to disclose their identities.