Commentary: Diversity Implementation: Reflections of a Practitioner

• Author: Sylvester Murray
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12700
• Published date: 01 January 2017
• Date: 01 January 2017

30 Public Administration Review • January | February 2017

Diversity Implementation: Reflections of a Practitioner

Sylvester Murray , past president of

the International City/County Management

Association and the American Society

for Public Administration, served as city

manager of Inkster, Michigan; Ann Arbor,

Michigan; Cincinnati, Ohio; and San

Diego, California, prior to his distinguished

academic career.

E-mail: symurray611@gmail.com

Commentary

B ureaucrats are powerful, and they can make a

singular difference in pulling the lever. Norma

M. Riccucci and Gregg G. Van Ryzin argue

persuasively that representative bureaucracy can

enhance and promote social equity, coproduction,

and democracy. As the New Public Administration

movement asserts, a socially representative

bureaucracy will ensure that underserved and

disenfranchised populations are not omitted from the

political processes of those government agencies that

ultimately allocate public services in society.

The authors provide strong support for the

proposition that symbolic representation is real and

Sylvester Murray