The discretion of the street-level bureaucrat as a factor in the elimination of black candidates in didactic performance tests in civil service examination at federal institutes

Abstract

This work aims to demonstrate that the construction of public policies against racism must be carried out in parallel with actions aimed at transforming the current ideology. Thus, initially, we will present the concept of “street-level bureaucrat”, by Michael Lipsky, and the importance of his discretion. Next, we will discuss the role of this worker in the Didactic Performance Tests of civil service entrance examinations for teachers at five Federal Institutes in Brazil. Based on general descriptive statistical and frequency analyses, we show that, in almost all scenarios, there is a higher failure rate for black candidates. Finally, to highlight how ideology crosses the street-level bureaucrat, we will look at the concept of “domains of power”, by Patrícia Hill Collins.