Jay S. Albanese

Susan T. Gooden

Elsie L. Harper-Anderson

Racial Equity, COVID-19, and Public Policy: The Triple Pandemic focuses on the health, economic, and justice impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on racial equity. The book does not simply document the problems made worse by the pandemic, but it provides historical context for issues that rose to the surface in new ways, the existing inequities revealed during COVID-19, as well as policy responses to those issues. The volume is distinguished in its focus on the implications for racial equity through an examination of both existing public policy and new ideas for change. The chapters in this volume demonstrate the ways in which this period of American history and politics is unique, most notably in the convergence of major threats to public health, economic livelihood, and access to justice. This “triple pandemic” will be felt in the coming years and will continue to unfold, depending upon the adequacy of the contemporary response. This edited volume is designed to provide the reader with a thorough understanding of issues including policing, housing, business, disaster response, education, immigration, vaccine distribution, reentry of justice-involved individuals, and the responses to public protests—all with a unifying focus on racial inequities and social justice concerns that elevated these issues to broader public attention and political response. This coalescing emphasis on public policy as both a cause and effect to address these issues makes the book a unique contribution to the public policy literature. This book responds to audiences seeking a better understanding of the events that occurred, the conditions that set the stage for their eruption into wider public view, and what might be done to prevent social and racial inequities in the future.

The Triple Pandemic

Racial Equity, COVID-19, and Public Policy

Governments around the world face the challenge of espousing principles of fairness but practicing inequity in their administration. Issues of equity and justice are fundamental concerns of government, and thus to public administrators, who constantly struggle to evaluate a country’s social climate and ensure equity in governance. Such evaluation is unlikely to occur in a serious way, however, if government actors are fundamentally too uncomfortable to directly engage the topic. The result, this book argues, is a context of 'nervousness,' which unless squarely acknowledged and addressed, can become debilitating and thwart progress toward achieving social equity. This volume explores and expands our understanding of the concept of nervousness in the administration of government services around the world, demonstrating the ways in which such an emotional and physical reaction can debilitate government actions that are needed to promote social equity and justice. Each of the chapters in this edited volume focuses on a single country and examines a specific nervous area of government, highlighting important historical and political considerations, as well as specific evidence of promising progress. It considers the complexity of nervous areas of governments around the world, while identifying encouraging approaches and initiatives. Global Equity in Administration is required reading for all practicing and aspiring public servants concerned with fair and equitable provision of public services around the world.

Susan T. Gooden

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