This article presents an integrative literature review supported by illustrative survey data to examine how Black women’s political leadership development is shaped through grassroots political training programs. Drawing on public administration, Black feminist thought, and political science, the analysis explores how such programs cultivate leadership practices grounded in collectivism, community accountability, and care while operating within political systems structured by individualistic norms. Survey data from 88 participants are used illustratively to contextualize patterns in political ambition, candidacy consideration, and inspiration from other Black women leaders, rather than to test causal relationships. Taken together, the article advances a conceptual argument that collectivist leadership frameworks provide a lens for examining alternative approaches to leadership development and democratic practice in public administration, while underscoring the need for future empirical research to more explicitly examine governance outcomes associated with these approaches.
This article examines how name, image, and likeness (NIL) reforms illuminate and intensify the broader neoliberal transformation of higher education in the United States. While NIL is widely celebrated as expanding student-athlete rights, the article argues that it also functions as a Trojan horse, extending market logics that have long eroded higher education’s civic and equity-driven mission. Drawing on social equity theory, critical pedagogy, and public administration scholarship, the analysis shows how NIL both disrupts and reproduces structural inequities across race, gender, sport, and institutional resources. Although NIL challenges the historical exploitation embedded in the amateurism model, its benefits remain unequally distributed, particularly disadvantaging female athletes, non-revenue sports, and under-resourced institutions. The article concludes that NIL can serve as a lever for democratic renewal only if universities adopt equity-centered governance, redistributive policy frameworks, and holistic student development practices grounded in justice rather than market imperatives.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is America’s most important antihunger program, but program participation varies by state. Administrative burdens, or the onerous experiences of individuals applying for public services, disproportionately impact Black and Hispanic SNAP applicants, making administrative burdens an equity issue. These burdens are products of state actions that may be formal, informal, intentional, or unintentional. This study applies an administrative burden framework to a qualitative case study of Connecticut’s SNAP, exploring barriers to program use. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals who were eligible but not using SNAP benefits (n = 15) and advocates/volunteers who assist with SNAP eligibility (n = 4) to explore barriers to SNAP participation. Results indicate that formal state actions are burdensome as they are inconsistent with low-income families’ lived experiences. Burdens that result from informal actions are largely dependent on the flexibility afforded by SNAP eligibility staff as they process these applications. A human rights approach to research and evaluation of human service programs, which demands that individuals eligible for social welfare programs participate in decision-making of policy implementation, can help shift this burden to the states and contribute to a more equitable approach to public service.
This article explores the emergence of a transformative higher education model—The Community Practitioner Certification Program (CPCP)—which places credible messengers, system-impacted leaders, and grassroots organizers at the center of public policy education, unique in its merging of lived experience with academic scholarship to redefine who holds expertise and how learning is delivered. What began as an experimental course in one university evolved into a multicity national initiative housed under the Institute for Research for Social Justice in Action (IRSJA) with programming now operating in several urban locations. This article traces the origin story of CPCP, the collaborative design of its curriculum, and its impact in reshaping the relationship between communities and institutions of higher learning. With a focus on healing, power-building, and liberation through education, this work offers a new blueprint for what higher education can become when the people are positioned as professors.
Peggy McIntosh’s 1988 essay used the “invisible knapsack” metaphor to identify often-unrecognized advantages afforded to White Americans. While this list was instrumental in fostering self-reflection and empathy, its focus on individual-level experiences and a static understanding of race limited its scope for driving systemic change. This conceptual paper revisits McIntosh’s list of examples, illustrating that it is insufficient to merely identify them; we must actively dismantle the “wall of Whiteness” perpetuating racial inequality. Drawing upon contemporary scholarship that builds on process-centered understanding of race, we present a revised framework identifying both individual/interpersonal and institutional/structural factors that contribute to this wall, particularly within academia. Based on this understanding, we advocate for a shift from a sole focus on critical selfreflection to a commitment to institutional and systemic changes, providing academics with the tools to recognize and dismantle these barriers, thereby creating a more equitable and inclusive academy.
Through a systematic literature review approach, this paper identifies and reviews studies from major journals in Public Administration, Public Budgeting, and Public Finance over the past two decades to critically assess how the social equity concept has been integrated into public budgeting and finance research. Focusing on five themes—federal funding, contracting, education finance, nonprofit contributions and social impact bonds, and participatory budgeting, it aims to identify shared and differing perspectives on the definition and operationalization of equity in public budgeting and finance empirical studies. Furthermore, it seeks to articulate how the studies on each theme can be informed by the broader literature on social equity and by different theoretical traditions, thereby deepening and mutually reinforcing our understanding of equity in public budgeting and finance.
This article advances a framework of care for public administration as a foundation for promoting social justice and strengthening democratic governance. Drawing on 10 years of community-based research in Los Angeles, the analysis examines how care is enacted in contexts shaped by public sector retrenchment. Across multiple projects spanning affordable housing, sustainable employment, quality childcare, and community-led cultural development, care emerged as a consistent analytic theme and was subsequently examined to distill lessons for public administrators. The findings show that care is practiced through efforts that sustain material well-being, uphold dignity, and facilitate collective agency. Rather than treating care as an informal or supplementary activity, the article demonstrates how community organizations and residents enact care as a form of governance—often compensating for gaps in public systems—while also revealing both the limits of relying on community-based care alone and the opportunities for public institutions to engage care more deliberately.
Immediately after starting his second term as president, Donald Trump declared war on so-called “gender ideology.” President Trump issued an executive order establishing national policy that there are two genders: male and female. The article examines the use of unitary executive branch theory by the second Trump administration to create moral panic by arguing that so-called gender ideology seeks to corrupt American youth by having them question their gender identity and the social equity movement. The social equity movement argues that the discipline of public administration should recognize social equity as a foundation, alongside efficiency, equity, and economy. The constitutional school of public administration argues that the discipline must recognize the rule of law as its foundation. Many social equity scholars trace the birth of the social equity movement to the 1968 Minnowbrook Conference. Social equity theory argues that public administrators must work to eliminate social inequities in the United States and around the globe. The constitutional school of public administration argues that all residents of the United States deserve protection against violations of their fundamental constitutional and statutory rights. The article argues that social equity and the constitutional school of public administration must join forces to prevent the second Trump administration from creating moral panic by perpetuating the myth of gender ideology.
JSEPA is thrilled to announce the inaugural round of best article selections for 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Few studies have investigated the impacts of the recent shift to virtual meetings on public participation and no known studies have explored the implications of e-participation on advancing equity in public administration. This study investigates the frequency of nonagenda public comment provided at city council meetings, comparing participation during in-person meetings to participation during virtual meetings. Our analysis, based on five years of data, reveals that overall participation increased when virtual meeting technologies were incorporated. We found that female participation surpassed male participation in meetings that offered virtual participation options. These findings highlight how virtual meeting technology impacts public participation, how it may encourage female participation, and advance gender equity in public administration.
This study investigates whether a state’s Black preterm birth rate prior to the COVID-19 pandemic is related to the policies a state adopted in the midst of the pandemic to try to increase health equity, controlling for the overall percentage of the African American population in the state and the governor’s partisan affiliation. Regression results find that the Black preterm birth rate and the state’s governor being affiliated with the Republican party have a statistically significant and negative relationship with equity policies associated with the governor. In another regression analysis, the percentage of the state’s population that is African American is positive and significant, while the partisan affiliation of the governor is no longer significant. This finding supports the theory that protecting members of marginalized populations during pregnancy does not greatly influence state policy but the proportion of the African American population may be influential in encouraging policy action.
Local governments utilize social equity budgeting (SEB) as a strategy to address systemic inequalities and promote inclusive development. Despite its potential benefit to improve equity in resource allocation, SEB practices differ significantly between jurisdictions. This study investigates how local government officials incorporate social equality initiatives into their budgeting processes. Drawing on qualitative survey data from municipal and county budget and finance directors across North Carolina, this study explores the motivations and the specific strategies used by practitioners to embed equity principles into public budget processes. The findings put forth actionable insights on how local governments can make budgeting more equitable, illustrating the diverse factors and practices that influence how this takes shape. Focusing on SEB’s objectives and methods, this article sheds light on how equity initiatives can be practically operationalized by local governments, providing valuable inputs for policymakers seeking to enhance social equity through fiscal measures.
This article presents an exploratory assessment of the ethnoracial composition of the federal government in Mexico, and its possible consequences for social equity by asking: How representative is Mexico’s federal bureaucracy of the different ethnoracial groups in the country. What are the possible implications of that composition for social equity? To answer these questions, data were gathered through an online randomized survey. Results suggest that Mestizos and Whites may be overrepresented, and Indigenous and Afro-Mexicans may be underrepresented when compared to the overall population. This “distorted mirror” of Mexican demographics would be by itself unlikely to advance social equity in terms of symbolic and active representation. Furthermore, this research suggests that ethnoracial identities may not be salient for public administrators, which would impede the transition from passive to active representation needed to promote social equity.
Persistent distrust between Black communities and public institutions remains a critical barrier to achieving social equity in the United States. This commentary explores the historical and contemporary roots of institutional distrust, emphasizing how legacies of exclusion, systemic bias, and administrative neglect continue to fracture relationships between Black citizens and the public sector. Drawing on recent events and policy shifts, the essay argues that racial healing must be central to any effort to rebuild legitimacy and trust. It highlights the role of public administrators as agents of change—capable of fostering transparency, accountability, and culturally responsive governance. By framing trust-building as both a moral imperative and a strategic necessity, this piece offers a pathway for institutions to engage in restorative practices that honor lived experiences and promote justice. The urgency of this moment demands bold reflection and action to transform public administration into a vehicle for healing and equity.
In the push for ever-improved organizational performance, scholarship and practice may neglect the human elements that contribute to such performance. Emotional labor research focuses on the outward-facing aspects of public service, but inward emotional experiences are not commonly studied, despite their professional and personal impact. This study surveys women public servants about the emotions they experience at work and how they manage them. Respondents report a range of positive and negative emotions at work, and they manage them in professionally acceptable ways. Specifically, they suppress negative emotions more than positive ones. Results suggest that connections among emotions, emotion management, organizational support, and career success are nuanced: women report intangible rewards but are less satisfied with tangible ones. If women trade emotional authenticity for career success, this research suggests those efforts are only partially successful. This raises questions about women’s ability to participate authentically and perform fully in public service organizations.
This study critically examines the marginalization of the Second Founding period (1865–1877) in public administration scholarship, revealing a persistent historical amnesia that obscures its foundational impact on governance and social equity. By analyzing 67 articles and book chapters across leading public administration journals and handbooks, the study identifies key gaps in the literature, such as the limited engagement with the Reconstruction Amendments and the neglect of key organizations and figures like the Freedmen’s Bureau and Freedom Lawmakers. The findings suggest that acknowledging the Second Founding’s contributions can deepen the field’s commitment to social equity and reshape its understanding of historical narratives.
