Representative Bureaucracy and Legitimacy in Policing

A 2014 study published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory suggests that gender balance makes a difference to the legitimacy of public organizations in the eyes of citizens. Rutgers researchers Norma Riccucci, Gregg Van Ryzin and Cecilia Levana conducted an online experiment in which 962 research participants were asked to rate the trust, fairness and performance of a hypothetical domestic violence unit of a police department. Research participants were randomly assigned units with mostly male officers vs. a mix of male and female officers, as well as high vs. low arrest rates. The researchers find that domestic violence units with more gender balance among officers were perceived as more trustworthy, fair, and effective, regardless of arrest rate. The results suggest that gender balance in the public sector workforce may increase legitimacy among citizens. The abstract can be found here.