Introduction to the issue

Welcome to the first Journal of Public Affairs Education issue of 2021. We feel as though we are starting to be repetitive in how the introduction to the issue essays begin by saying that the world has changed since our last issue. But since the last issue of 2020, the world truly changed. Americans and individuals throughout the world looked on as a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol, leading to the tragic loss of five lives and the decline of the nation’s democracy. On January 20, though, the country witnessed a new administration’s inauguration, led by President Biden’s call to end the nation’s “uncivil war” and for democracy to prevail. The Biden administration faces this challenge while the nation and world are still facing the COVID-19 pandemic. The field of public administration has a great deal of work to help the new U.S. administration achieve this goal of returning to democracy. Hopefully, the federal government will return to action to address COVID and other problems, which was lacking during the Trump administration. The U.S. and the world need this assistance.

One area where JPAE seeks to contribute is expanding the journal’s focus beyond the research on teaching and learning public affairs in the U.S. to education worldwide. In this issue, we are excited to announce a new joint award with Teaching Public Administration, a journal based in the United Kingdom. We hope that this partnership will advance the efforts of both journals to promote research on public affairs education globally.

The issue continues with another essential essay in JPAE’s editorials on crucial public administration and public affairs education problems. And we are incredibly proud of the editorial in this issue. In “Stepping up to the plate: Making social equity a priority in public administration’s troubled times” Berry-James et al. (2020) voice the nation’s history of systematic racism, focusing on the damage caused in the areas of health and policy, and the authors call for the field to place social equity at its center. Table 2 of the editorial is especially impactful. As they term it, the authors present ideas on “teaching a transformative public affairs” curriculum of MPA programs (p. 11).

Next in the issue, Stewart et al. (2020) report a survey asking nonprofit graduates to provide their viewpoints on alumni satisfaction with their degrees. The authors then compare the satisfaction ranking with the reputation and competencies of their degrees. They found skills to be linked to alumni satisfaction, but a much closer relationship between alumni satisfaction and the reputational ranking of the public affairs school housing the nonprofit program.

The issue continues its focus on how public affairs programs are structured with an article by Meares (2020) surveying MPA programs’ curricula to describe how the field teaches public planning and count the number of planning concentrations offered by programs. He argues that a closer relationship between public administration and planning can lead to better-equipped students to address public problems strategically.

Up next, the issue moves into a discussion on how public affairs programs deliver content with an article by Ni et al. (2020) and colleagues detailing how MPA students perceive online education. Student perceptions of online education are complex, involving multiple factors such as: “the degree of online acceptance, the likelihood of taking online classes, and the effects of instructional skill” (p. 50). The article is especially timely with the increase of online education during COVID.

In the final research article of the issue, there is a return to the journal’s focus on encouraging a global approach to public affairs education. The article by Sun et al. (2020) discusses the internationalization of public administration education occurring in China. Having these discussions in other nations, as we encourage through the pages of JPAE, will help make public affairs education have a needed global outlook.

The way public servants communicate matters, especially in their communications to the individuals who they serve. In this issue’s case study, Dolamore (2020) provides a guide for students to learn how to communicate tough decisions to the public by “combining interpersonal and technical skills” (p. 96).

We end with three reviews of three books related to the themes explored in the issue. Viswanath (2020) reviews Achieving Social Equity. Vick (2020) reviews Women Leading Change in Academia. And to close, Antony (2020) reviews The Divided States of America.