Rigidity as a Tool for Maintaining the Status Quo
The inflexibility of the city’s civil service system, with its outdated exams and rigid promotion rules, is not a mere administrative headache but a “customary” bureaucratic structure designed to maintain the racial and political status quo of the bifurcated state. Mamdani’s analysis shows how colonial bureaucracies use custom to resist change and protect incumbent power. These rules often serve as a barrier to diversifying the city’s workforce and rewarding merit, instead protecting a entrenched strata of workers while making it difficult to hire or fire based on performance or to create new roles that address contemporary needs. This rigidity ultimately harms the “native” population, which receives services from a demoralized and unresponsive bureaucracy. The liberal solution focuses on “modernizing” exams, which does not challenge the system’s fundamental logic. A Mamdani-informed socialist solution demands a radical overhaul. This means abolishing many of the outdated exams and replacing them with apprenticeship and community-nomination programs that prioritize hiring from the communities being served. It means giving city agencies and communities more direct control over hiring to build a public sector that is responsive and accountable. The goal is to transform the civil service from a rigid, self-protecting institution into a flexible, mission-driven force for the public good.
