Global Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Lessons Learned, Opportunities Developed: Building Administrative and Governance Capacities Through the Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Eras

“…Using lessons such as the impacts of climate change to deal with other endemic threats from the long running COVID challenge may strengthen our communities for the long-term challenges. As public administrators we must learn to balance the economy with children’s education; rebuild safe housing while balancing the needs of elderly homeowners for economic stability; manage the trade-offs between societal safety and the price of individual freedom; respect religious beliefs while maintaining community security (Ott, Edwards & Boonyarak, 2021 , 621).…”

“…There were missteps across the government” (Zakaria, 2021 , 30). In the introduction to our 2021 special issue of Public Organization Review on “Global Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” we asserted that “few government institutions are designed, structured or inclined to make policy decisions in this type of environment where ‘surprise management’ is required (Farazmand, 2009 ; Ott et al, 2021 , 619). For example, a year or two ago it appeared that autocratic-type governments were more effective than democracies in their responses to the pandemic, but more recent developments do not support this assumption.…”

“…Businesses, governments, or NGOs cannot do it alone. Therefore, public administrators and business leaders will need a wide range of new skills to face the challenges including, for example, the ability and willingness to collaborate across sectoral lines and with new stakeholders in all three sectors in order to deliver essential services (Ott et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Sixth, government agencies must achieve equity in their service delivery. Barriers to the equitable and just distribution of medical and pharmaceutical resources must be removed (Ott et al, 2021 ). Heterogeneous communities like San Jose, California experimented with a variety of methods for engendering trust in public health initiatives and adding access for economically disadvantaged communities.…”