Emerging statistics demonstrate that COVID‐19 disproportionately affects African Americans. The effects of COVID‐19 for this population are inextricably linked to areas of systemic oppression and disenfranchisement, which are exacerbated by COVID‐19: (1) health care inequality; (2) segregation, overall health, and food insecurity; (3) underrepresentation in government and the medical profession; and (4) inequalities in participatory democracy and public engagement. Following a discussion of these issues, this essay shares early and preliminary lessons and strategies on how public administration scholars and practitioners can lead in crafting equitable responses to this global pandemic to uplift the African American community.

This study examines the attributes of organizational rules that influence rule following. Rule following fosters organizational effectiveness by aligning individual behaviours with organizational preference. While a range of theoretical explanations have been offered for rule following, the characteristics of rule design and implementation have received less empirical attention. Borrowing from the green tape theory of effective rules, this study examines the influence of two particular characteristics—rule formalization and rule consistency—on rule following. Three studies, which include two vignette experiments and a survey of two local government organizations, provide the data for the research. The results suggest that rule formalization and rule consistency independently increase rule following, with mixed evidence of interaction effects. The broad implication is that public managers must attend to both rule design and implementation to foster organizational rule following.

Emerging statistics demonstrate that COVID-19 disproportionately affects African Americans.The effects of COVID-19 for this population are inextricably linked to areas of systemic oppression and disenfranchisement, which are further exacerbated by COVID-19: (1) healthcare inequality; (2) segregation, overall health, and food insecurity; (3) underrepresentation in government and the medical profession; and (4) inequalities in participatory democracy and public engagement. Following a discussion of these issues, this article shares early and preliminary lessons and strategies on how public administration scholars and practitioners can lead in crafting equitable responses to this global pandemic to uplift the African American community.Social Equity and COVID-19: The Case of African Americans 3 Evidence for Practice  Prioritizing social equity can strongly position policymakers and public administrators to craft policy solutions and reverse administrative ills that uniquely harm African Americans during COVID-19. The development of a national, standardized data collection system that captures the demographic backgrounds of people infected with COVID-19 better positions government to equitably and efficiently distribute human, economic, and medical resources. An equitable and effective response to COVID-19 for African Americans requires government to partner with nonprofit organizations, including those led by African Americans and/or serving predominately African American communities. Specific strategies that may safeguard the ability of African Americans to vote include, but are not limited to, expanding opportunities for eligible Americans to register and vote remotely as well as adopting and extending paid time off for voting in low-skill professions. Addressing digital inequality is fundamental to the ability of African Americans to gain access to potentially life-saving information necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and civically engage to advance causes salient to the African American community.

As local governments across the United States adapt to economic shifts, workforce reshaping, and continued demand for services, training to confront these challenges has become more important. However, training resources are limited, investment in these programs is not always prioritized, and evaluating outcomes is difficult. This study analyzes data from a local government leadership development program to examine training impacts over time. It focuses on leadership skills and the ways in which individual's self-assessments change over time. The findings indicate that although leadership training is an important factor in the development of both conceptual and interpersonal leadership skills, the long-term effects of training on these two types of skills vary significantly. Understanding the training effect decay associated with leadership skills development can help human resource managers and public organizations strategically plan, evaluate, and invest in these training activities to better prepare their workforce to meet future challenges.

The question “What makes an organization public?” is a leading point of scholarly inquiry in the field of public administration. This study supplements existing theory on publicness by further exploring the primary influences on an organization’s publicness—influences identified by analyzing data from in-depth interviews with senior-level managers of mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities. Results from a grounded theoretical analysis of these managers’ perceptions provide support for a conceptual framework of organizational publicness in which political authority, horizontal engagement, and public engagement are associated with higher levels of publicness. Better understanding of the prism through which senior managers conceptualize publicness may enhance managerial awareness of the most salient structural and institutional mechanisms that empower treatment facilities to effectively support individuals suffering from mental health disorders such as substance abuse, emotional distress, and depression.