The Myth of Bureaucratic Neutrality: Institutionalized Inequity in Local Government Hiring

As a field, we often relate merit and neutrality to the technical skills needed to be the “best” candidate for a job, but that was not necessarily what civil service reformers had in mind. The civil service system was meant to replace widespread political patronage, but the myth around the origins o...

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Veröffentlicht in:Review of public personnel administration 2020-09, Vol.40 (3), p.516-531
Hauptverfasser: Portillo, Shannon, Bearfield, Domonic, Humphrey, Nicole
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creator Portillo, Shannon
Bearfield, Domonic
Humphrey, Nicole
description As a field, we often relate merit and neutrality to the technical skills needed to be the “best” candidate for a job, but that was not necessarily what civil service reformers had in mind. The civil service system was meant to replace widespread political patronage, but the myth around the origins of the civil service system masked inequalities built into early testing requirements and institutionalized racial inequities in hiring practices. In this article, we argue the founding myth of bureaucratic neutrality was so powerful that it continues to reverberate in our field. We trace the current reverberations of the myth of neutrality through modern hiring practices and the contemporary legal landscape. By doing this, we present a systematic review of this rationalized myth in public employment, using an institutionalism framework. As the myth of bureaucratic neutrality continues to permeate decision-making, policy creation, and implementation, it will continue to institutionalize inequity within the field.
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source Worldwide Political Science Abstracts; Sage Journals
subjects Affirmative action
Civil service
Decision making
Discrimination
Employment
Hiring
Inequality
Institutionalism
Institutionalization
Local government
Mythology
Neutrality
Patronage
title The Myth of Bureaucratic Neutrality: Institutionalized Inequity in Local Government Hiring
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