Social Equity in the Trump Era

Abstract

While not yet certain, Trump administration proposals to cut federal programs, including support for low-income housing, economic development in distressed rural communities, and workforce training programs, significantly threatens resources that local administrators have depended on to pursue greater social equity. As with the “new normal” following the Great Recession, administrators will be asked to innovate complex structural changes, including searching for new ways to generate needed revenues. These areas have both profound social equity implications and yet have received less attention from public administration researchers concerned with social equity. By necessity, if not by choice, local public administrators will be at the leading edge of innovation in these areas. By sharing ideas and innovations, administrators can support each other and advance our collective understanding of best practices in guiding structural change and financial equity administration. Most importantly, administrators can partner with their communities to defend, maintain, and expand social equity and social justice gains.

Housing and Community Development: Divergent Responses to Austerity Politics

“…Others (see Hayes, Karpman, & Miller, 2016) underscore that social work's commitment to vulnerable communities is explicit and the National Association of Social Worker's Code of Ethics demands engagement in social change to address current and emerging social injustices. Additionally, Pynes and Rissler (2017) argued that practitioners and policymakers have to carefully scrutinize the ways in which state and local governments respond to federal cuts by utilizing the lens of social equity to answer the issue of how any proposed alternative funding processes could disproportionately affect vulnerable citizens. The articles in this issue provide tangible examples about ways in which to retain our commitment to social equity despite diminished federal commitment.…”