Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration

Social Equity in Public Administration: A Global Challenge

Susan Gooden

Wilder School, VCU

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jsepa.v1i2.5096

Keywords: international public administration, social equity

---

Abstract

Achieving social equity presents a formidable challenge for public administrators around the globe. While nations are distinctive in terms of their culture, language, political systems, demographics, and history, this essay focuses on the five overarching actions that offer promise in addressing global inequities. These actions include: 1) embracing the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights; 2) focusing on social inequities as problems rather than conditions; 3) strengthening commitment to core democratic principles; 4) promoting accountability for race, colonization, and slavery, and 5) advancing a humanitarian approach.

---

Author Biography

Susan Gooden, Wilder School, VCU

Susan T. Gooden, PhD (she/her) (stgooden@vcu.edu) is dean and professor at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, president of NASPAA, past president of ASPA, and cofounder of JSEPA.

---

References

Ahmed, Nabil. 2022. Inequality Kills: The Unparalleled Action Needed to Combat Unprecedented Inequality in the Wake of COVID-19. Oxford, UK: Oxfam International. https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621341/bp-inequality-kills-170122-en.pdf

Akram, R. 2004. “Social Equity and the American Dream.”Standing Panel on Social Equity in Governance. Washington, DC: National Academy of Public Administration.

Barbelet, Veronique and Caitlin Wake. 2020. “Inclusion and Exclusion in Humanitarian Action: The State of Play.” Humanitarian Policy Group Working Paper. November. https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/Inclusion_and_exclusion_in_humanitarian_action_the_state_of_play.pdf

DuBois, W.E.B. 1897. The Conservation of Races. Washington, DC: American Negro Academy, Occasional Papers, No. 2. http://www.webdubois.org/dbConsrvOfRaces.html

Gooden, Susan T. Ed. 2020. Global Equity in Administration: Nervous Areas of Governments. New York: Routledge.

Labrador, Rocio Cara and Diana Roy. 2021. “Haiti’s Troubled Path to Development” Council on Foreign Relations, September 17. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/haitis-troubled-path-development

Lockhart, P.R. 2021. “Calls for Reparations Are as Old as Emancipation. Will Global Powers Finally Listen?” NBC News. December 26, 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/calls-reparations-are-old-emancipation-will-global-powers-finally-list-rcna9800

ODI Bites. 2022 (March 2). “Decolonising Development, Reparations and a Justice-Centered Approach to ‘Aid.’” https://odi.org/en/events/odi-bites-decolonising-development-towards-a-justice-centred-approach-to-aid-can-reparations-help/

OECD. 2011. “Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising.” https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264119536-en

Rawls, John. 1999. A Theory of Justice, rev. ed. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.

Repucci, Sarah, and Amy Slipowitz. 2022. The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule. Washington, DC: Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedomworld/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule

Roosevelt, Eleanor. December 1948. “Adoption of the Declaration of Human Rights.” Paris, France. December 9. http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/eleanor_roosevelt_adoption.html

United Nations. 2006. Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations. https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/ifsd/SocialJustice.pdf

United Nations. n.d. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declarationof-human-rights