Black or blue: Racial profiling and representative bureaucracy

Abstract

Are there conditions under which minority bureaucrats are less likely to provide active representation? The authors address this question by testing the link between passive and active representation for race in a police department and in the particular instance of racial profiling. Literature from three areas - racial profiling, representative bureaucracy, and police socialization - is brought together. The findings support the hypothesis that organizational socialization can hinder the link between passive and active representation. Furthermore, the authors find that the presence of black police officers is related to an increase in racial profiling in the division. This finding was unexpected and raises several important questions regarding active representation and race. © 2008 The American Society for Public Administration.