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By Norma M. Riccucci and Gregg G. Van Ryzin

Does increased representation of women in government agencies result in policy outcomes that are beneficial to women? Does it increase women’s confidence in those government agencies? These questions are at the core of democratic accountability: the ability of government to represent and serve all members of its citizenry.

The prevailing research demonstrates a number of important outcomes of gender diversity in public organizations. But does gender diversity also influence how the general citizenry judges the organization’s performance, trustworthiness and fairness? To get at this question, we designed a survey experiment in which we varied the gender representation and performance of hypothetical police domestic violence units (DVUs). Domestic violence is a problem that persists globally, and gender diversity in the units responsible for its eradication is imperative. In the United States alone, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 85 percent of domestic violence victims are women, and women between the ages of 18 to 34 generally experience the highest rates of domestic violence; 75 percent of the perpetrators are male. On average, more than three women are murdered a day by their husbands or boyfriends.

Our experiment showed that increased representation of women positively influenced people’s trust in the agency and views of its performance, independent of whether the agency’s performance was high or low. This finding is important because the more citizens view the police as legitimate and trustworthy, the more willing they may be to report domestic violence and other crimes to the police. They may also be more likely to cooperate in follow-up investigations, which can lead to improved law enforcement outcomes.

While the US Congress renewed the federal Violence Against Women Act in February of 2013 — expanding coverage to offer protections to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender victims of domestic abuse, as well as to immigrants and American Indian women assaulted on reservations by non-Indians — if the crimes go unreported, the laws and policies will be ineffectual.

The research thus far shows that the policy domain within which bureaucrats work must be linked to the interests of those being served (for example, women seeking child support or veterans seeking benefits). Even police departments that are racially diverse are seen as more legitimate than those that are not, regardless of police practices. But, would diversity or representativeness matter if the mission or outcomes of agencies were not tied in any way to gender, race, ethnicity, or shared identities (e.g., veterans)? For example, would increasing the representation of women officials in local governments’ recycling programs encourage women to increase their recycling behaviors? This issue is yet to be explored, and would contributed greatly to research on the benefits of representativeness or diversity in government.

Norma M. Riccucci and Gregg G. Van Ryzin are the authors of “Representative Bureaucracy in Policing: Does It Increase Perceived Legitimacy?” (available to read for free for a limited time) in the latest issue of the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Norma M. Riccucci is Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University, Campus at Newark. Professor Riccucci has published extensively in the areas of public management, affirmative action, human resources and public sector labor relations. Gregg G. Van Ryzin is associate professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey. He is an expert on surveys and methodology, and conducts empirical research on a range of topics, including housing and community development, citizen satisfaction with urban services, nonprofit organizations, performance measurement and evaluation, and comparative public opinion about government policy and institutions. Prof. Van Ryzin is widely published in scholarly journals in public administration, policy analysis, and urban affairs.

The Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory serves as a bridge between public administration and public management scholarship on the one hand and public policy studies on the other. Its multidisciplinary aim is to advance the organizational, administrative, and policy sciences as they apply to government and governance. The journal is committed to diverse and rigorous scholarship and serves as an outlet for the best conceptual and theory-based empirical work in the field.

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Chandler Arnold, First Book’s executive vice-president, with a student from Belmont Runyon Elementary school in Newark, NJ, at a ‘Read Across America’ event last year.

Read Across America Day is fast approaching; on March 1, children across the country will celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday by reading ‘The Cat in the Hat’ and other childhood favorites.

But, as much as we love Dr. Seuss, the READING part is the important bit. At First Book, we will always line up for cake and ice cream, but books and reading come first. Because kids who read at home become stronger, more capable readers, and that’s the critical ingredient in become successful — in school and in life.

‘Read Across America’ is an annual event sponsored by our friends at the National Education Association (NEA). First Book is proud to do our part for such a critical issue.

Here’s what you can do:

• If you work with kids from low-income families, sign your program or classroom up with First Book. We can help you get new, high-quality books, including (naturally) ‘The Cat in the Hat’ and other Dr. Seuss favorites.
• If your program is already signed up with First Book, visit the First Book Marketplace to get some great Dr. Seuss titles for your kids.
• Take the NEA’s ‘Read Across America’ pledge.

And most importantly of all, take the time to read to a child in your life. You’ll both be glad you did.

First Book was part of all kinds of great events across the country for Read Across America Day on Friday, including a tremendous partnership in the city of Newark. Working with some great local nonprofits, we were able to provide almost 17,000 brand-new books — including plenty of Dr. Seuss titles, since Read Across America Day is Dr. Seuss’s birthday — to students at eight Title I public schools in Newark.

We got to meet lots of amazing kids at Belmont-Runyon Elementary, along with some of the educators and public servants that do so much and put so much of themselves into their work.

“I’m just so happy that our kids in Newark are getting thousands of books,” said Mayor Cory Booker. “Not put in libraries or in schools, but actually put in their hands for them to own.”

As always, the best part was seeing the looks on the children’s faces when they were given new books of their own to keep. You might think it was just the excitement any child feels when they’re being given shiny new things, but almost every one of those kids sat down to open their new Dr. Seuss books and start reading them — right there on the floor.

Most kids from low-income families have no books of their own at home. A new book is more than just a novelty for kids like the ones at Belmont-Runyon Elementary; it’s a rare treasure. To see how eager they are to read, you only need to hand them a book.

“The kids love getting these books, they’re really excited about it,” said Lois Myers, librarian at Belmont-Runyon Elementary. “They say ‘We get to keep these books!?’”

First Book doesn’t haul a truckload of books up and dump them on the doorstep. We work carefully with local partners to ensure that the books are part of an ongoing effort to transform children’s lives and elevate the quality of their education.

• The educators at the Newark schools selected quality titles that they knew their kids would respond to.
• Community groups like New Jersey After 3 and the Foundation for Newark’s Future brought in authors to read to the children and coordinated a school-wide assembly to celebrate books and reading.
• Anne Feeley, a generous donor (and Newark native) provided funding to help make everything possible through the Foundation for Newark’s Future’s “My Very Own Library” initiative.
• Local leaders like Mayor Booker made time to spend the day with the children, to entertain them and to let them know they were important.
• Volunteers and parents decorated the auditorium with a Dr. Seuss theme that would have put professional set designers to shame.

We were proud to be a part of an event like this, and happy to bring the books.

Just like we’d be proud to work with people and organizations anywhere who care about improving the lives of the most vulnerable children in their community. When we all work together, we make big things happen.

If you’d like to support First Book’s work,