Immigrant Bureaucratic Incorporation: The Dual Roles of Professional Missions and Government Policies

Abstract

Drawing on original qualitative research, this article investigates how natives and institutions in rural America's “new immigrant destinations” are adapting, if at all, to Hispanic newcomers and whether corresponding interaction should be viewed as substantively responsive. In contrast to predictions made by traditional political incorporation theories, results based on semi-structured interviews and ethnographic fieldwork suggest that Hispanic newcomers are undergoing a process of bureaucratic incorporation whereby public service bureaucrats, rather than elected politicians, are initiating substantive responsiveness. Yet I also identify a continuing interaction between immigrant bureaucratic and political incorporation in rural America. I conclude by connecting my findings to more general sociological perspectives regarding population needs, electoral bodies, and public bureaucracies in democratic societies.