代表性官僚:公共行政理论与研究方法的述评

代表性官僚(representative bureaucracy),因其涉及政策执行过程中公共资源向长期弱势的群体(例如少数族裔、女性)倾斜进而达到提升社会公平公正的目的,成为公共行政学科理论前沿的重要课题之一。自1944年Donald Kingsley的《代表性官僚》成书以来,公共行政学界极大地推进了对该理论的研究,包括深入探讨官僚代表性与社会影响的因果机制,并通过严谨的社会科学研究方法提供丰富的实证证据。本文深入地评述了代表性官僚理论的主要定义、概念与假设,并创新性地对近年来代表性官僚理论的新近研究成果按照三个模块进行系统的整理:被代表群体的社会或身份特征,被动性与主动性代表之间的转化和制约条件,以及检测理论问题的研究方法和设计。与此同时,本文也对代表性官僚在中国语境下的理论探索与实证研究的发展进行了梳理。

Representative Bureaucracy:A Review of Public Administration Theory and Research Methods

As one of the most important areas in the public administration scholarship,representative bureaucracy concerns the enhancement of social equity and justice through promoting the allocation of public resources to the socially marginalized(e.g.,racial/ethnic minorities,female).Since the publication of Donald Kingsley’s Representative Bureaucracy in 1944,public administration scholars have substantially advanced the research on bureaucratic representation and its social impact.These advancements include a multi-dimensional conceptualization,inquiry of the causal mechanisms,and production of rich empirical evidence using rigorous social science methods.This article comprehensively reviews the key concepts,arguments,and hypotheses related to representative bureaucracy.More importantly,it innovatively synthesizes the most recent research in three modules:salient identity,conditions for the transformation between passive and active representation,and research methodologies and design.Meanwhile,this article reviews the theoretical exploration and empirical examination of the representative bureaucracy issues in the context of China.