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The 21st century promises a more diverse public workplace in terms of race, ethnicity, culture, gender, age, and disabilities. In light of the shifting composition of public organizations, this article applies three different paradigms of diversity developed to understand private organizations and analyze practices in and research about public organizations. Building on these paradigms, this article proposes a new process for managing diversity that facilitates the development and promulgation of a multicultural organization. This paradigm of multiculturalism cultivates a climate in which individuals from dominant and nondominant cultures coexist and thrive. Consequently, agencies will be more effective in recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce, structuring internal processes, and serving clients.

Hal G. Rainey & Paula Steinbauer (1999) recently proposed a theory of effective government organizations. Several other theories exist in whole or in part, but empirical testing is rare. In this article we cut to the chase & examine several key elements of these theories empirically. First, we explore the theoretical dimensions of organizational performance & derive a taxonomy to help measure the construct. Second, we draw from the literature & develop a model predicting organizational performance. Third, we operationalize & test the model with data from the 1996 Merit Principles Survey, US Merit Systems Protection Board. In the end, this model explains 70% of the variation in employee perceptions of organizational performance across the 23 largest federal agencies. Most hypothesized relationships are confirmed. We conclude the article with a discussion of implications, limitations, & suggestions for future research. 5 Exhibits, 102 References. Adapted from the source document.

Some scholars believe that more effort should be devoted to the development of a comprehensive theory of work motivation. Several candidate theories have been advanced in recent years, but they are radically different, & empirical testing is almost nonexistent. This article reports the first known effort to test one of these metatheories -- the high-performance cycle proposed by Edwin A. Locke & Gary P. Latham. Specifically, we assess the empirical adequacy of the high-performance cycle among senior federal executives, using attitudinal data from the US Office of Personnel Management's 1991-1992 Survey of Federal Government Employees. The overall fit of the LISREL 8 model is good, & there is strong empirical support for the key hypothesized relationships. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications & limitations of this research. 5 Exhibits, 1 Appendix, 60 References. Adapted from the source document.

Recent studies of the theory of representative bureaucracy have focused on active representation, whereby administrators in public organizations work to advance the interests of particular groups, achieving policy outcomes that directly address the needs of those groups. The concept of administrative discretion is central to these studies, as an administrator must have the discretion to produce results that reflect the values and beliefs of these groups. While the presence of discretion is often implied in these studies, few have examined it explicitly. Using data from the Farmer's Home Administration, we explore whether administrators who perceive themselves as having more discretion enact policy outcomes that are more representative of minority interests. The results strongly support the conclusion that administrators who perceive themselves as possessing significant discretion and who assume the role of minority representative in their agencies are more likely to enact policy outcomes that favor minority interests.

Reform is a common theme in American public administration. During the twentieth century at least 12 major administrative reforms have taken place at the federal level and countless others in state and local governments. Frequently, these reforms have addressed the operation of public personnel management systems. Recent efforts associated with the reinventing government movement, for example, have proposed numerous alterations to civil service rules and procedures, and many jurisdictions have implemented significant changes in their personnel practices. This article examines the extent to which these kinds of personnel reforms have been implemented by state governments. A reform index is developed to document the considerable variation among the states in their approach to personnel practices. Several state characteristics are associated with scores on this index, including legislative professionalism, which bears a positive relationship to reform, and the level of unemployment within a state and the proportion of state employees associated with public employee unions, which are both negatively associated with reform.