Norma Riccucci, a Board of Governors Distinguished Professor on the Newark campus of Rutgers University in New Jersey, has been selected as this year’s Herbert Simon Award recipient by the Midwest Political Science Association. The award honors a scholar who has made a significant career contribution to the scientific study of bureaucracy.
“Riccucci has been at the forefront of two of the most important and timely areas in the study of the bureaucracy: street-level bureaucracy and representative bureaucracy (as well as how these two areas interact),” according to this year’s Herbert Simon Award selection committee. Street-level bureaucracy is defined as a subset of a public or municipal institution whose employees have direct contact with members of the general public. Street-level bureaucrats typically include frontline workers and policy implementers such as law enforcement officers, teachers, social workers, and legal-aid lawyers. Representative bureaucracy focuses on identities such as gender, race or ethnicity, to ensure the interests of all groups are considered in bureaucratic decision-making processes.
Professor Riccucci is the author of several books including Policy Drift: Shared Powers and the Making of U.S. Law and Policy (New York University Press, 2018) and How Management Matters: Street Level Bureaucrats and Welfare Reform (Georgetown University Press, 2005).
Professor Riccucci earned a bachelor’s degree at Florida International University in Miami. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Southern California and a Ph.D. in public administration from Syracuse University in New York