Does Citizen Political Ideology Shape Bureaucratic Responsiveness? Evidence From an Audit Experiment

Government workers often take shortcuts when making decisions about delivering public services. When these shortcuts are influenced by stereotypes or bias, citizens may receive unequal treatment. This research examines whether bureaucrats in U.S. housing authorities and parks departments discriminate based on citizen political ideology. Using a pre-registered 2 × 3 email audit experiment ( n = 974), we test whether responsiveness varies when citizens signal conservative views, liberal views, or no political views. The results show that street-level bureaucrats are more likely to respond to citizens signaling conservative views than to citizens with no stated political views. Responsiveness does not differ between citizens signaling liberal views and citizens with no stated political views. However, when a reply is provided, citizens signaling liberal views receive more helpful responses. Interaction models suggest that responsiveness to citizens signaling liberal views differs across public housing authorities and parks departments. These findings suggest that political ideology may shape bureaucratic responsiveness in ways that have implications for fairness in public service delivery.