Wilkins, V. M., & Williams, B. N. (2008). Black or blue: Racial profiling and representative bureaucracy. Public Administration Review, 68, 654-664

12 important questions on Wilkins, V. M., & Williams, B. N. (2008). Black or blue: Racial profiling and representative bureaucracy. Public Administration Review, 68, 654-664

What has been shown in previous literature and will in this article be tested?

Institutional variables can promote or hinder the provision of active representation by bureaucrats: one such variable is organizational socialization. This will be tested, because in police organizations, the use of socialization is very much used to modify the behavior and attitudes of their employees

How has contemporary racial profiling been cited as a police tactic whose practical origins are related to Reagan's War on Drugs?

There was a nationwide program that targeted motor vehicles that may smuggle drugs. There were guidelines of common characteristics of drug couriers, which did include racial and ethnic groups

Although the authors acknowledge that it is difficult to prove the discriminatory practices, what is more important than the solid proof according to them?

The allegation of racial profiling and the perception it creates with minority groups
  • Higher grades + faster learning
  • Never study anything twice
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Discover Study Smart

What is the theory of representative bureaucracy?

How the demographic characteristics of bureaucrats affect the distribution of outputs to clients who share the same demographic characteristics

What is the difference between passive and active representation?

Passive = same demographic origins like sex, race, income, class and religion
Active = how representation influences policy making and implementation; do they purposely act on behalf of their counterparts in the general population?

Which two conditions have to be met for passive representation to naturally translate into active representation?

They must have discretion in order to act on a given policy
The policy area must be salient to the demographic group in question

How is active representation made almost impossible for minority bureaucrats?

Administrators are socialized by the organizations so they have the same goals, preferences and behaviour as the rest. Organizational socialization therefore strips away the racial identity and replace it with organizational identity

What is the difference between formal and informal socialization processes?

Formal is hierarchical and begins with the police academy where they are being trained. Informal is more the officer-to-officer interactions

What was the method of this study?

168000 stop forms from the San Diego Police Department in the US for one year with the context of traffic stop encounters (date and time), the reason for the stop, driver demo- graphics (gender, race/ethnicity, age), the actions taken during the stop (search, search authority, search out- come), and the disposition of the stop (citation, arrest).

What do the authors improve regarding the dependent variable where the relationship between the percentage of stops where the driver is black vs the black community in the area?

They only use the driving-eligible population, measured by the population that is 15 years or older in the division

What is the meaning of the title: "Black or Blue"?

Due to socialization, the black police officers seem to have to choose between being black and representing their minority group or being accepted by the rest of the police force and being blue

What are the control variables in this study?

Median income, racial composition of the population in the division and mostly overall crime rate of the city

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

  • A unique study and practice tool
  • Never study anything twice again
  • Get the grades you hope for
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Remember faster, study better. Scientifically proven.
Trustpilot Logo