Standing Panel on Social Equity in Governance

Issues of fairness, justice, and equity have always been a part of public administration, and these issues were front-and-center in the early years of affirmative action. Now the focus has moved from more than hiring and promotion practices and contractors selection to fields as broad as education, policing, welfare, housing, and transportation. In the language of public administration, the phrase "social equity" has come to be the way we bring these issues together and apply them to the field.

The concept of social equity is one that the Academy has addressed fully through the creation and support of a standing panel on Social Equity in governance. Early on, a definition of social equity was developed:

“The fair, just and equitable management of all institutions serving the public directly or by contract; the fair, just and equitable distribution of public services and implementation of public policy; and the commitment to promote fairness, justice, and equity in the formation of public policy.”

Clearly the public administrator has a major responsibility to infuse social equity in all she or he does; if not for the enlightened individual administrator, equity may be shunted aside and those who are served by its principles will suffer. The investigative and management strategies available to the administrator who is interested in assuring equity are many:

• Procedural Fairness–under which due process, equal protection, hiring, promotion, awarding of contracts are all guaranteed

• Distributional Equity–which assures equal access, targeted intervention, and commitment of resources to achieve fair results

• Process Equity–that guarantees consistency in the level of service delivery regardless of distributional criterion used, and

• Outcome Disparities–that probe for reasons why disparities may still exist as a result of policies and programs that may in fact meet all input criteria

Contact Information and Membership

Click here to contact the Social Equity Panel Chair, Blue Wooldridge.

Membership in the Academy's standing panels is open to all Academy Fellows. From time to time, the panels invite non-Fellows to join as associate members. These individuals are invited to provide specific expertise to the panel. Membership of the Standing Panel on Social Equity is self-selecting. Fellows or non Fellows who wish to become members of this panel--or to have their names removed from its distribution list--should contact the staff liaison, Mary Appah, by email or call (202) 204-3668.