This study examines the intricate mechanisms linking organizational politics and innovative work behavior (IWB) through the lens of the Job Demand-Resource (JD-R) model. Given the scholarly emphasis on the interplay between job demands and job resources, the study addresses a critical gap by investigating how job resources—perceived fairness of performance appraisal and job autonomy—sequentially mediate this relationship within the public sector. Drawing on survey data from 1,054 frontline service delivery officials across 167 South Korean local governments, this study employs structural equation modeling and bootstrapping to explore these dynamics. The findings indicate that while organizational politics does not directly affect IWB, its effects are sequentially mediated by perceived fairness of performance appraisal and job autonomy. By integrating the JD-R model with constructs of organizational politics, these results offer novel theoretical insights and practical strategies for fostering IWBs in complex bureaucratic settings.
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