Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Governments

Abstract

Local governments are turning to a set of practices designed to support a more inclusive workforce. Yet, less is known as to why localities opt to provide such services. Recognizing this gap, this paper examines the adoption of three inclusionary practices: offering cultural competency training, providing documents in multiple languages, and prioritizing language skills in hiring. To do so, this paper employs a dataset that combines International City/County Management’s (ICMA) Local Government and Immigrant Communities Survey with Census data and other measures. Results suggest that local needs and the presence of a professional administrator are associated with more inclusive practices.

Keywords

local government cultural competence inclusion immigration innovation

Gumbo is a signature dish of Louisiana, which combines the cultures of African, French, Spanish, German, and the Choctaw (First Nation Tribe). The unique history of this dish reflects the history of Louisiana and its varied waves of immigration, each group bringing with them their own particular ingredients, flavors, and culinary techniques. The key to bringing these flavors together is the roux—a thickening agent composed of equal parts fat and flour that serves as the base which brings the most complementary flavors out of each of the various ingredients. When approaching the question of diversity and inclusion, the roux metaphor is illustrative. Like gumbo, local government organizations are often composed of multiple cultures and groups. Similar to gumbo, diverse ingredients are only part of the “recipe.” To capitalize on their diversity, organizations must make deliberate efforts to cultivate inclusion though practices that go beyond strictly counting (Blessett et al. 2019). In other words, while diversity and inclusion may rightly be thought of as two separate principles, both are needed as communities move to address pressing challenges and look to engage diverse groups in local government decision-making. Understanding the factors associated with inclusive programs and practices within U.S. local governments is particularly important for local government scholars and practitioners (Gooden 2014; Rice 2007; Riccucci 2002).

As Blessett et al. (2019) note, there are differences relative to the adoption of policies that emphasize inclusion among units and levels of government. This is especially true in many of America’s urban centers and metropolitan areas that are confronting challenges that stem from prolonged exclusionary practices and deeply-rooted distrust between marginalized communities and their governments (Urban Institute 2020). The effects of exclusion, inequal access, and disparate outcomes have contributed to widespread civil unrest and declining trust in many local institutions, especially among local governments. Local governments across the U.S. are embracing efforts to be more inclusive in varied ways (Ashikali and Groeneveld 2015b).

The purpose of this study is to examine the degree to which the adoption of inclusion practices may be explained by the four main perspectives of local government policy adoption in a large cross-sectional sample of American local governments. Despite the growing importance of understanding inclusion within local governments, scholars have yet to assess the variation in local government practices germane to inclusion including cultural competency training, the prioritization of multi-lingual skills, and translation. To do so, the paper begins by summarizing the literature on local-level policy adoption decision-making from the local needs, fiscal health/wealth, institutional structure and capacity, and political perspectives. The paper then presents an empirical analysis on the adoption of three inclusionary practices in U.S.-based local governments. The final section presents results as well as the practical and scholarly implications of the findings.

Literature and Background

This paper examines the literature on diversity management and inclusion via the four frameworks that explain local government policy decisions (Huang and Liu 2018; Betz et al. 2012; Feiock and West 1993). Doing so offers insight into the variation in local government adoption of inclusionary practices.

The Local Needs Perspective

The local needs perspective assumes that local governments adopt policies and practices in response to specific needs of their populations (Feiock and West 1993; Huang and Lui 2018; Hur and Strickland 2012). Multiple studies have found support for this perspective. For example, in a study of 31 cities in the Montreal, Canada metropolitan area, Pare, Frohn, and Laurin (2004) observed that local governments’ decisions were influenced by the needs of low-income families, immigration status, and single-income families. Huang and Liu (2018) also found a relationship between variables approximating local needs and the decision of local leaders to designate their city as a “welcoming city.” Lewis and Ramakrishnan (2007) observed similar “need-based” results relative to the adoption of language services by police departments. They argued that because police must interact with a diverse array of citizens they were quicker to adopt language access policies as compared to other local level agencies.

Scholars have also tackled the question of policy adoption relative to diversity management, albeit not adopting the “local needs” frame. Studying a sample of North Carolina communities, Hur and Strickland (2012) found the following associated with adoption of diversity and inclusion policies: larger populations, a greater percentage of African Americans within the community, higher levels of affluence, and structural characteristics of the manager/administrative leader such as education (see also Hur, Strickland, and Stefanovic 2010). This work parallels earlier work by Kerr and Mladenka (1994) who noted that as the minority percentage in municipalities increases, cities tend to develop a greater willingness to facilitate minority employment opportunities. Nishishiba (2012) concluded that demographic needs were a central motivation for local governments’ adoption of diversity management within a small sample of local governments in Oregon. Finally, other studies suggest that diversity and inclusion are pursued based on organizational, economic and budgetary needs (Betz et al. 2012; Moon 2018), to address specific local challenges (Huang and Liu 2018), and to understand and address the needs of minority populations (Fisk, Silvera, and Haun 2019).

Fiscal Health/Wealth Perspective

Scholars have observed that the affluence of a community often drives its priorities, may facilitate and/or constrain the ability of localities to offer services, and affects the willingness/ability of local policymakers to engage in innovation (Dixon and Elston 2020). Hajnal and Trounstine (2010), for example, concluded that cities in poor fiscal health are limited in what services they offer as well as how they distribute resources. More specifically, because of such constraints, these local governments opt to pursue programs, policies, or activities that drive economic growth or that support economic growth rather than programs/policies with more egalitarian goals (Huang and Liu 2018; Parilla and Liu 2018; Peterson 1981). Extant research has also observed that communities with greater financial capacity have a greater ability to dedicate resources to diversity and inclusion programming (Hur and Strickland 2012). They also tend to be home to a greater percentage of white residents who support diversity and inclusion efforts (Hur, Strickland, and Stefanavoic 2010). However, Pitts et al. (2010) did not identify a relationship between more affluent/resource-rich schools and the adoption of diversity programming.

Institutional Structure and Capacity Perspective

The institutional structure and capacity perspective treats form of government and organizational capacity as potential factors that explain the adoption of local policies (Clingermayer and Feiock 2001; Hur and Strickland 2012). Previous research is mixed as to the effects of elected versus professional leadership and decision-making relative to local government policymaking. Huang and Liu (2018), for example, observed that professional local government managers (appointed as compared elected officials) gravitate toward professional values i.e. expertise and efficiency and tend to be more oriented toward administrative outcomes. This, according to supporters of professional local government, facilitates innovation and creates an organizational environment that is a ripe for policy adoption (Huang and Liu 2018). Recent diversity and inclusion scholarship has observed a relationship between managers’ belief of a “diversity dividend” and support for inclusion. In effect, the dividend connects more diverse and inclusive organizations with improved outcomes and outputs such as increased employee morale especially among women (Choi and Rainey 2014), a stronger connection between themselves and stakeholders (Ely 2004), and a greater ability to solve problems (Ashikali and Groeneveld 2015a, 2015b; Groeneveld and Verbeek 2012; Groeneveld and Walle 2010; Naff and Kellough 2003; Pitts 2009; Sowa and Selden 2003).

Scholars have also found that local elected officials, i.e. mayors, play crucial roles in policy adoption, especially related to economic development (Feiock and Clingermayer 1986) and climate policies (Krause 2011a). As compared to professional managers, Huang and Liu (2018, 15) argue elected officials are more inclined to be sympathetic to influential interest and pressure groups and may rely more heavily on “symbolic policies” and “credit-claiming” than appointed officials (Sharp, Daley, and Lynch 2011). Hojnacki and Baumgartner (2003) argue that by engaging with symbolic politics, political actors shape the contours, emotions, and images associated with an issue and are attempting to appeal to generally accepted values.

Previous work has noted a connection between organizational capacity and population size as well. In general, local governments with larger populations are likely to possess greater institutional capacity (Krause 2011a, 2011b; Sullivan 2002). Pastor and Mollenkopf (2012), for example, found that larger cities were more prepared, capable, and willing to incorporate and provide services to recently arrived immigrants as compared to smaller communities.

Political Perspective

Political perspectives hold that local government officials make choices that support reelection and acknowledges the importance of interest group activities. Steil and Vasi (2014) found that the mobilization of pro-immigration interest groups and citizens as well as the presence of sympathetic local officials were associated with the passage of pro-immigrant ordinances (See also de Graauw 2015). Extant scholarship has observed that as social networks increase in their connections and size they tend to increase exchange of information that contribute to heightened levels of political activism among citizens (Halberstam and Knight 2016). Conversely, if the community experienced a sharp growth in immigration and subsequent pushback from citizens, it was more likely to enact restrictive measures (Steil and Vasi 2014). Filomeno (2017) also identified a relationship between political factors, activism, and local immigration rules finding that more conservative communities are more likely to support exclusionary immigration policies (Filomeno 2017; O’Neil 2011; Scheve and Slaughter 2001). Similar relationships are observed by Huang and Liu (2018) who notes that conservative communities are less likely to adopt a welcoming cities designation.

Politics and constituent pressure also played a significant role for localities that had adopted a chief diversity office/position (CDOs). Cooper and Gerlach (2019) described that more liberal and diverse communities as the most likely to adopt a CDO, noting that the office may be a measure of active representation wherein bureaucracies are responding to the needs and desires of their communities. A related concept is that of political culture, drawn from the work of Banfield and Wilson (1963) and Elazar (1984) which suggest that states approach policymaking (and politics) from different fundamental perspectives. Moralistic states tend to adopt policies designed to benefit the entire community; whereas traditional and individualistic states focus more on individuals and markets. While political culture is a state-level variable and, thus, potentially problematic, state norms are likely to have some influence at the local level.

Methods

Sample

The data for dependent and independent variables are drawn from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA)’s 2018 Local Government & Immigrant Communities Survey (ICMA 2019). In addition, community demographic variables are from the 2013 to 2017 five-year estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS) (U.S. Census Bureau 2020), which is conducted and published online by the U.S. Census Bureau. The combined dataset, with unit of analysis corresponding to county, city, and township, has a total of 1,201 observations (N = 1,201). The primary analytical sample for each of the analyses varied (731–834) based on missing variables. Data for political culture are drawn from Elazar (1984).

Key Independent Variables

Specific variables were drawn from the dataset to assess each of the theoretical perspectives, respectively. Reflecting Huang and Liu (2018), variables correspond to perspectives based on the underlying theoretical perspective to which they most strongly agreed.

Local Needs Perspective

To measure the influence of the Local Needs perspective (Hypothesis 1) the following variables are used: percent non-white (Non-white %), percent college graduate (College %), foreign-born population as a percentage of total population (For Born %). The variable percent non-white (Non-white %) is a calculation of the non-white population divided by the total population provided in the ACS. The percent college graduate (College %) is a calculation provided in the ACS of the total number of individuals with a bachelor’s degree and higher divided by the total population age 25 and older. The foreign-born population variable is a calculation in the ACS of the population which is reported as foreign born as a percentage of the total population. Based on this perspective, the following hypotheses are tested:

H₁: Local governments¹ with higher levels of local needs (foreign-born population and minorities) are more likely to adopt inclusionary practices.

H_1a: Local governments with higher levels of foreign-born population are more likely to adopt inclusionary practices.

H_1b: Local governments with higher levels of minorities are more likely to adopt inclusionary practices.

Fiscal Health Perspective

The variables that align with this perspective (Hypothesis 2) and measure the affluence of localities are as follows: Percent unemployment (Unempl %), per capita income (Income), and the Gini Index of Income Inequality (Gini). The percent unemployment (Unempl %) variable is a calculation of the number of unemployed individuals divided by the civilian population in the labor force ages 16 and older as calculated in the ACS. Per capita income (Income) is a measurement of wealth that is provided in the ACS in 2017 Inflation Adjusted dollars. The Gini Index of Income Inequality (Gini) is provided in the ACS and assesses the level of income inequality within a community and range from 0 to 1 with 0 indicating perfect equality and 1 representing perfect inequality.

H₂: More affluent local governments are more likely to adopt inclusionary practices

Professionalism and Capacity Perspective

The variables used to examine the utility of the Professionalism and Capacity perspective (Hypothesis 3) include the following: type of government (Municipal), professional government (Prof Admin), and total population (Population). The type or level of government (Municipal) indicates whether the local government is a city, county or county subdivision based on data provided by the ICMA Immigrant Communities Survey. Governments which are classified as a county or county subdivision are both classified as county in the ICMA survey. County governments and county subdivisions are coded as 0, and municipal governments are coded as 1. The professional government (Prof Admin) variable is a transformation of the Form of Government data provided by ICMA into a dichotomous variable indicating Prof Admin = 1 when a community identifies as has having a form of government with a professional manager (which includes the Municipal Council-Manager and County Council-Manager/Administrator forms of government) and Prof Admin = 0 for all other forms of government (i.e., without a professional manager) (ICMA 2019). The final variable included to assess the professionalism and capacity perspective is total population (Population) which is the logged measure of the overall population of a community provided via ACS for ease of analytic interpretation. Based on the literature, this analysis adopts the following hypotheses:

H₃: Local governments with a more professional institutional structure and greater capacity are more likely to adopt inclusionary practices.

H_3a: Local governments with a professional manager are more likely to adopt inclusionary practices.

H_3b: Local governments home to a larger number of citizens are more likely to adopt inclusionary practices.

Political Perspective

The variables included to estimate the Political perspective (Hypothesis 4) were the following: the political culture of the state wherein the community is located geographically (Political Culture), the urbanity of the community (Urban), the percentage of voters who supported the Democratic nominee in the 2016 Presidential election, the count of immigrant communities as a measure of perceived diversity of the immigrant population (Immigrant Diversity (I.D.)), and Immigration Population Sub-categories (Largest Immigrant Group (L.I.G.).

The urbanity of a community (Urban) is based on Census-based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) identified in the ACS and is a dichotomous variable wherein Urban = 1 when CBSA is identified as having a population of 50,000 or greater and Urban = 0 for all CBSAs with populations of 49,999 or less. The democratic variable (Democratic %) is the Democratic support for each county. Immigrant Diversity (I.D.), a count (0–10) of immigrant communities represented in a community’s immigrant population, is a scale created from the different immigrant sub-populations in communities reported in the ICMA Immigrant Communities Survey. The ICMA Immigrant Communities Survey (ICMA and Cornell University 2019) provided a categorization of the largest share of the community’s immigrant population which is used to develop the measure for Largest Immigrant Group (L.I.G.), and includes the following categories: Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, South America, South and East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and All other. The largest immigrant group can be a contested classification/measure and that it means very different things depending on the continent or part of the world being specified.

H₄: Political perspectives will be associated with the adoption of inclusionary policies.

H_4a: Local governments in moralistic states will be more likely to adopt inclusionary policies.

H_4b: More urban local governments will be more likely to adopt inclusionary policies.

H_4c County governments with citizens more supportive of Democrats will be more likely to adopt inclusionary policies.

Dependent Variables

Within the category of Immigrant/International Resident Engagement and Integration, survey respondents were asked if they engaged in specific activities related: offering Cultural Competency Training (CC Train), providing access to Multi-lingual Community Information (MLCI), and Preference for Multi-lingual job applicants (Pref MLJA). Cultural Competency Training (CC Train) is a dichotomous variable that indicates whether local governments encourage or require cultural competency training for local government employees wherein CCTrain = 1 when training is available. Access to Multi-lingual Community Information (MLCI) is a dichotomous variable which indicates whether or not a local government provides multi-lingual access to community information, MLCI = 1 when multi-lingual access is provided. Preference to Multi-lingual Job Applicants (Pref MLJA) is a dichotomous variable that indicates whether or not a local government gives preferential consideration to job applicants with multi-lingual skills, Pref MLJA = 1 when preference is indicated. An additive index variable was then constructed to measure overall commitment to inclusion practices. A local government that does not engage in any of the three practices under study is coded as 0; a local government that reports all three practices is coded as 3. Logistic regression was then utilized for this final model (model 4 in the tables).

Analysis

A series of cross-sectional logit regressions of the combined dataset (N = 1,201) were executed to examine the relationships between the theoretical perspectives of municipal management and three cultural competency functions: 1) cultural competency and training availability; 2) multi-lingual applications and form availability; and 3) multi-lingual preference on job applications. Each logit model assesses the degree to which each explanatory variable is associated with the availability of the specific cultural competency related function and is analyzed via STATA (version 16). The correlations of the variables included in the analyses are presented online in Table 1 Supplement. Correlations greater than 0.3 are bolded to indicate significant relationships between variables.

Results

The results of each of the Logit and Ordered Logit models are presented in Odd Ratios for ease of interpretation. Table 1 presents each of the models of the main analysis exploring the relationship between each local government perspective and the presence of specific cultural competency related function. Model 1 is presented in the column 1 of Table 1 and shows that the presence of cultural competency training is significantly related to the Foreign Born % (1.02, p ≤ 0.05), Total Population (1.57, p ≤ 0.001), Moralistic (0.56, p ≤ 0.01), Individualistic (0.64, p ≤ 0.1), and Immigrant Diversity (1.16, p ≤ 0.01). The interpretation of these results suggests, for example, that communities are 1.16 times more likely to have cultural competency training for every one-unit increase in Immigrant Diversity. Model 2, in column 2 of Table 1 shows that the availability of community information in multiple languages is significantly related to Foreign Born % (1.09, p ≤ 0.001), Total Population (1.78, p ≤ 0.001), Professional Administration (1.79, p ≤ 0.001), Urban (0.45, p ≤ 0.001), Immigrant Diversity (1.17, p ≤ 0.01), and the largest share of the immigrant populations being perceived to be from Central America (7.43, p ≤ 0.01), Europe (3.94, p ≤ 0.1), Mexico (8.02, p ≤ 0.01), Asia (4.15, p ≤ 0.1), and Sub-Saharan Africa (12.03, p ≤ 0.01). One interpretation of this result suggests that local governments are 1.79 times more likely to provide Multi-Lingual Community Information if they have a Professional Administration.

Table 1.

Theories of Local Government Management and Cultural Competency Functions.

	Model 1Cultural Competency Training	Model 2Multi-Lingual Community Information	Model 3Preference to Multi-Lingual Job Applicants	Model 4Number ofInclusionPractices
Local Needs
Non-White %	0.997 (0.006)	1.004 (0.007)	0.998 (0.007)	0.997 (0.006)
College %	1.016 (0.011)	0.990 (0.010)	0.996 (0.012)	1.000 (0.009)
For Born %	1.024 (0.010)*	1.086 (0.015)***	1.046 (0.011)***	1.061 (0.010)***
Fiscal Health/Wealth
Unempl. %	1.063 (0.040)	0.961 (0.036)	0.944 (0.040)	0.965 (0.032)
Income	1.000 (0.000)	1.000 (0.000)	1.000 (0.000)	1.000 (0.000)
Gini	0.769 (0.251)	0.959 (0.296)	1.267 (0.421)	1.083 (0.260)
Structure
Municipal	0.885 (0.234)	1.168 (0.261)	1.409 (0.363)	1.221 (0.260)
Prof Admin	1.043 (0.218)	1.790 (0.319)***	1.680 (0.369)*	1.954 (0.324)***
Population	1.568 (0.164)***	1.776 (0.179)***	1.375 (0.150)**	1.667 (0.151)***
Political
PoliCulture
Traditionalistic	0.558 (0.128)*	0.873 (0.190)	1.252 (0.300)	0.964 (0.182)
Individualistic	0.644 (0.151)⁺	0.856 (0.177)	0.758 (0.189)	0.783 (0.149)
Urban	0.890 (0.256)	0.454 (0.107)***	0.974 (0.266)	0.745 (0.160)
I.D.	1.160 (0.058)**	1.169 (0.066)**	1.078 (0.055)	1.134 (0.054)**
L.I.G.
Caribbean	7.887 (8.227)*	4.307 (3.889)	3.742 (4.504)	6.956 (6.772)*
Central Amer	3.457 (3.448)	7.436 (6.007)*	4.210 (4.730)	7.771 (6.883)*
Europe	1.070 (1.304)	3.945 (3.276)⁺	4.101 (4.872)	3.610 (3.610)
Mexico	3.552 (3.286)	8.019 (5.949)**	4.295 (4.643)	7.687 (6.547)*
Middle East	4.371 (4.408)	2.598 (2.132)	3.831 (4.349)	4.866 (4.456)⁺
South Amer	2.152 (2.531)	3.299 (3.921)	1.066 (1.552)	3.112 (3.643)
Asia	4.361 (4.172)	4.147 (3.210)⁺	2.758 (3.085)	6.070 (5.268)*
Sub-Sahara Afr.	8.667 (8.810)*	12.028 (10.088)**	3.878 (4.641)	14.900 (14.120)**
All other	5.318 (5.512)	3.739 (3.346)	1.843 (2.420)	5.010 (5.138)
Constant				7.514 (1.213)***
				8.861 (1.233)***
	0.000 (0.001)***	0.000 (0.000)***	0.002 (0.004)***	10.605 (1.253)***
Wald/LR χ²	101.81***	160.78***	82.56***	191.50***
Pseudo R²	0.134	0.223	0.126	0.141
N	815	834	757	731

Note: Standard errors in parentheses. ⁺p ≤ 0.1; *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.001.

Model 3, in column 3 of Table 1 shows that the preference for multi-lingual job applicants is significantly related to Foreign Born % (1.05, p ≤ 0.001), Total Population (1.38, p ≤ 0.01), and Professional Administration (1.68, p ≤ 0.05). The interpretation of these results suggests that for every one-unit increase in the percent of the population that is Foreign Born, local governments are 1.05 times more likely to have Preference for Multi-Lingual Job Applicants. Model 4, in the final column of Table 1 presents the results of an ordered logit that examines the relationship between the local government perspectives and the number of cultural competency functions available in a local government (count). The number of cultural competency functions available is significantly related to Foreign Born % (1.06, p ≤ 0.001), Total Population (1.67, p ≤ 0.001), Professional Administration (1.95, p ≤ 0.001), Immigrant Diversity (1.13, p ≤ 0.01), and the largest share of the immigrant populations being perceived to be from Caribbean (6.96, p ≤ 0.05), Central America 7.77, p ≤ 0.05), Mexico (7.69, p ≤ 0.05), Asia (6.07, p ≤ 0.05), and Sub-Saharan Africa (14.90, p ≤ 0.01). One example of the interpretation of these findings is that local governments are 1.95 times more likely to have more Cultural Competency Functions if they have a Professional Administration.

Local Government Type Specificity Analysis (Municipal Vs. County)

In an effort to examine the degree to which the results of the main analysis were reflective of whether local governments were municipal or county governments, further analysis is presented that examines the same models in municipal and county governments separately, as shown online in Table 2 Supplement. Data here presents the results of the examination in municipal governments and finds that the results of the main analysis hold true for municipal governments. For example, Model 4 in the final column of Table A.2 finds the same predictors to be significant at similar strengths and magnitude (Foreign Born % (1.06, p ≤ 0.001), Total Population (1.67, p ≤ 0.001), Professional Administration (1.97, p ≤ 0.001), Immigrant Diversity (1.12, p ≤ 0.05), and the largest share of the immigrant populations being perceived to be from Caribbean (13.30, p ≤ 0.05), Central America (11.83, p ≤ 0.05), Mexico (13.54, p ≤ 0.05), Asia (11.26, p ≤ 0.05), and Sub-Saharan Africa (18.96, p ≤ 0.05). The interpretation of these results suggests, for example, for every one-unit increase in Immigrant Diversity, Municipal Governments are 1.12 times more likely to have more Cultural Competency functions.

Results looking solely in county governments are presented online as Table 3 Supplement. Looking again at Model 4 for comparison, in the final column of Table A3, consistent findings are shown for Foreign Born % (1.07, p ≤ 0.01), Total Population (1.50, p ≤ 0.01), and Professional Administration (2.13, p ≤ 0.05). College Grad % is significant in the county-only analysis (1.07, p ≤ 0.05) whereas it was not significant in any of the municipal models. The interpretation of these results suggests that County Governments with Professional Administrations are 2.13 times more likely to have more Cultural Competency Functions. However, within county governments, immigrant population-based variables have inconsistent effects. Immigrant Diversity, for example, fails to reach significance, but significance remains with the largest share of the immigrant populations being perceived to be from Caribbean (0.00, p ≤ 0.001), South America (0.00, p ≤ 0.001), and Sub-Saharan Africa (11.47, p ≤ 0.05).

Discussion

The results of this analysis offer mixed support for the four perspectives of local government adoption (Local Needs, Fiscal Health/Wealth, Institutional Structure and Capacity, and Political) as related to the enactment of three inclusionary practices. Hypothesis 1 regarding the Local Needs perspective finds mixed support as the percent foreign born (Hypothesis 1a) is shown to have an influence in the adoption of inclusion practices, but the minority population (% non-white) (Hypothesis 1b) is not supported. Hypothesis 2 regarding the fiscal health/wealth perspective is mostly unsupported as most of the indicators of local affluence (Unemployment %, Income, and Gini) are all found to have no significant influence on the adoption of inclusion practices.

Hypothesis 3, regarding institutional structure and capacity perspective finds strong support across the models, the presence of a professional administrator has a significant and positive influence on the adoption of inclusion practices and the size of the population is shown to have a significant positive influence as well. Hypothesis 4, regarding the political perspective, finds mixed support. Political Culture is only significant in the model for cultural competency training (Hypothesis 4a), but not for the other inclusionary practices. Hypothesis 4b, which is related to the urbanity of a local government, finds mixed support as urbanity is negatively associated with the adoption of the availability of multilingual community information, but is neither associated with cultural competency training nor preference for multilingual job applicants. The interpretation of this result suggests that, ceteris paribus, a large urban environment is less likely to offer multi-lingual information. However, the corresponding results for total population suggest that local governments with a larger population are more likely to offer language services. Given the high correlation between Urban and Total Population (40 percent) as well as Municipal (52 percent) which is also more likely to adopt, but fails to reach significance, the finding that Urban is less likely to adopt multi-lingual community information suggest that the adoption of this practice in large metropolitan areas is driven by the size of the population and being a municipality, and, absent these drivers, local governments are less likely to adopt.

Cultural Competency Training

Variables approximating the local needs perspective were strongly associated with cultural competency training. As an explanation, the local needs perspective expects that local governments’ decisions or policies are taken in response to the needs of the community (Feiock and West 1993). Here, results show that increases in the foreign-born population as well the number of origin countries within the community as associated with an increase in the odds that the local government offered cultural competency training. Several needs-based explanations are possible. When there are a greater number of foreign-born individuals in a community, they may be more likely to interact with local officials. To do so effectively, communities may turn to or organize cultural competency training as it is a process designed to develop awareness, collect information, and then incorporate that knowledge into more appropriate and effective public services. Similarly, as the number of regions/nationalities present within a community increases, the needs relative to diversity and inclusion training are also likely to grow. Finally, the political culture variable reported significant for moralistic cultures with the adoption of cultural competency. As expected, communities in states with moralistic cultures are more likely to adopt cultural competency training, which is consistent with the political culture hypothesis. However, it should be noted that political culture failed to reach significance for any of the other practices, suggesting a need to further explore the contextual determinants of inclusion practice in local governments.

Higher levels of educational attainment within a community were also linked to the offering of cultural competency training. This finding is consistent with current research, which identifies two broad explanations. The first suggests that college education tends to diminish the economic threat that immigrants pose to natives (Steil and Vasi 2014). In other words, because immigrants may have lower levels of education they are less likely to become “labor market” competition with native born residents with a college education. A second explanation is that in more highly educated communities, residents are more likely to contact immigrants and interact with those cultures. These attitudes are then reflected in local actions that are seen as more welcoming or inclusive (Fussell 2014).

Multi-lingual Skills/Hiring and Information

The local needs perspective is strongly associated with the adoption and prioritization of both language service variables. The percentage of foreign-born and the number of origin countries all show statistical significance in determining policy adoption and in the expected directions. Findings suggest that when there are more immigrants and a larger number of origin countries, local policymakers will seek these skills in employment opportunities. This is likely due to the fact that these communities have greater needs relative to language assistance. Therefore, multi-lingual skills become a key advantage in addressing the increased diversity of a community. There was also an increase in the likelihood of offering information in multiple language formats and if the largest immigrant group was considered Mexican, Central American, or Sub-Saharan. Another possible explanation relates to fear of lawsuits (Embrick and Rice 2010) wherein the need to comply with legal requirements and/or lawsuits motivates diversity management efforts rather than an altruistic belief or motivation for the potential benefits that diversity might yield politically or economically (Steil and Vasi 2014).

Variables representing the institutional structure and capacity perspective were also significant and in the hypothesized direction. The literature points to several possible explanations. First, city and county managers are professionally trained and are selected based on their expertise. In this study, results suggest that managers may be more aware of the significance and benefits for government officials to have language skills or to include information in multiple language formats, i.e. recognize the diversity dividend (Fisk, Silvera, and Haun 2019). Valuing multi-lingual skills in government employment may also be a way to deal with increased immigrant size as part of a customer-service orientation. Finally, organizational size was also significant. This finding follows a line of research that links greater capacity’ to policy outputs (Hawkins and Wang 2012).

Robustness Model (Political Behavior)

The results of the specificity models suggest that perhaps counties are less responsive to the political needs of their constituencies than municipal governments. Data for county-level election returns from the 2016 presidential election are added to this analysis to better assess the influence of political needs perspective which are drawn from the MIT Election Data Science Lab (2018). The percent democratic variable (Democratic %) is based on 2016 election data and captures the Democratic support for each county as it measures the counties won by the Democratic Presidential Candidate. This variable is available only in county-level analysis as some of the city and municipal level units are not directly embedded within a single county (e.g., The City of Atlanta spans across multiple counties). The results of this examination of the robustness of the findings are presented online in Table 4 Supplement. In model 4 of this analysis, in the final column of Table 4 Supplement, the number of cultural competency practices is associated with College % (1.07, p ≤ 0.05) Foreign Born % (1.07, p ≤ 0.001), Professional Administration (2.28, p ≤ 0.05) and Total Population (1.50, p ≤ 0.01). The largest share of the immigrant populations being perceived to be from Caribbean (0.00, p ≤ 0.001), South America (0.00, p ≤ 0.001), and Sub-Saharan Africa (12.16, p ≤ 0.05) are also associated with the number of cultural competency practices. Of note, the findings show that Democratic % fails to reach significance in any of the models.

Conclusion

Returning to the opening analogy of preparing gumbo, results suggest that both the ingredients and the cooking matter. It is not the mere presence of immigrant communities that determines the level of inclusion in a local community, but the manners in which they are actively incorporated. In particular, this study’s finding that local needs, especially those of foreign-born populations, are important when it comes to the adoption of inclusive policies and practices in local governments. The presence of immigrant populations could be considered a stimulant for local actions toward inclusion, especially relative to offering cultural competency training. Additionally, the evidence in support of local government professionalism suggests that institutional structures influence local governments’ provision of multi-lingual access to community affairs and in shaping preferences for multi-lingual job applicants. In particular, the presence of an administrator influences movement toward community inclusive actions and policies—supporting the proverbial argument that the gumbo does not make itself.

The implications of this research are several. The social unrest and protests of 2020 centered around the “Black Lives Matter” movement, coupled with the inequities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, are indicative of the larger context of the need for an expansion of inclusionary practices in local government administrations as well as in other administrative contexts. Long-standing public health and safety inequities, for example, have long had deleterious effects on marginalized communities and add to the urgency relative to diversity and inclusion.

Future work should examine the roles of council/commission resources, financial independence, financial vulnerability, and stated organization values on the adoption of inclusion practices. In addition, further exploration of the influence of the largest immigrant group and the manners in which they might influence government action, especially since the largest group is often contingent upon a specific region of the world being examined. As this is an early work in this area, many important questions remain unanswered related to: the impacts of cultural competency training, distinguishing between voluntary and required trainings, how organizations coordinate such efforts across departments as well as movements within the Fisk, Silvera, and Haun (2019) typology to institutionalize diversity and inclusion efforts.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental Material, Table_1_Supplement - Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Governments

Supplemental Material, Table_1_Supplement for Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Governments by Jonathan M. Fisk, Geoffrey A. Silvera, John Morris, Xi Chen, Jan Hume, Xiaofeng Chen and Mac-Jane Crayton in State and Local Government Review

Supplemental Material

Supplemental Material, Table_2_Supplement - Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Governments

Supplemental Material, Table_2_Supplement for Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Governments by Jonathan M. Fisk, Geoffrey A. Silvera, John Morris, Xi Chen, Jan Hume, Xiaofeng Chen and Mac-Jane Crayton in State and Local Government Review

Supplemental Material

Supplemental Material, Table_3_Supplement - Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Governments

Supplemental Material, Table_3_Supplement for Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Governments by Jonathan M. Fisk, Geoffrey A. Silvera, John Morris, Xi Chen, Jan Hume, Xiaofeng Chen and Mac-Jane Crayton in State and Local Government Review

Supplemental Material

Supplemental Material, Table_4_Supplement - Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Governments

Supplemental Material, Table_4_Supplement for Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Governments by Jonathan M. Fisk, Geoffrey A. Silvera, John Morris, Xi Chen, Jan Hume, Xiaofeng Chen and Mac-Jane Crayton in State and Local Government Review

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Jonathan M. Fisk

Geoffrey A. Silvera

Supplemental Material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

Note

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