The changing face of urban bureaucracy - Is there interethnic competition for municipal government jobs?

The authors examine changes over time in 65 multiethnic U.S. cities to test hypotheses about(1) job distribution among ethnic groups and (2) interethn ic employment competition. Compared to blacks and non-Latino whites, Latino s experience the lowest levels of representation in both managerial and non managerial jobs. The authors uncover patterns of competition between blacks and Latinos for managerial positions, but the majority of observed competi tion is between traditionally disadvantaged ethnic groups and non-latino wh ites. Competition between blacks and Latinos for managerial jobs is most li kely to occur in departments with redistributive policy commitments. The au thors find a pervasive pattern of Latino gains and black losses for nonmana gerial positions, but they argue that the pattern should not be interpreted as evidence for interethnic employment competition.