What Have We Learned in the Fields of Public Policy and Public Administration That Might Be Relevant to the Coronavirus Pandemic?

• Published date: 01 August 2020
• Date: 01 August 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020942426
• Subject Matter: Using COVID-19 to Advance Learning, Management, & Policy OutcomesLessons for Expanding Crisis Management Techniques & Pedagogy

https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020942426

American Review of Public Administration

2020, Vol. 50(6-7) 743 –745

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0275074020942426

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Lessons for Expanding Crisis Management Techniques & Pedagogy

Despite the concentrated attention to the Coronavirus

Pandemic situation and attempts to advise decision makers

and the analysts who work for them, two problems seem to

have been ignored that can be gleaned from the public policy

and public administration literature.

While defining these problems provides several new

approaches to this complex issue, they do not simplify it. It is

hard to escape defining this as a classic “wicked problem”

(Rittel & Webber, 1973). The first involves the process of

labeling the issue itself and linking it to previous policy situ-

ations. The second focuses on the dimensions of the issue

that relate to the implementation process. This article

explores both topics and suggests that there may be some

ways of approaching them that is useful.

Labeling the Issue

Most students of public policy begin their analysis deciding

whether the issue they are confronting is unique or is simi-

lar to some other problem. The coronavirus pandemic—this

dramatic life and death issue—is both. It is both different

from and similar to what we have experienced in other

issues.

While lessons can be drawn from the experience of earlier

plagues or virus situations, the 21st century creates many dif-

ferences as well as similarities between this current situation

and the past. As a result, it is hard to evaluate the alternatives

that might have been considered when the issue surfaced

early in 2020.

We do know that many decision makers bring their famil-

iar patterns to issues that resemble questions that they have

confronted in the past. In that sense, it is not surprising that

the advice that is given reflects many different perspectives

based on geography, racial and ethnic backgrounds, density

of population, and other descriptors of the multiple societies

affected by this almost mysterious development.

As a result, it is not surprising that some decision makers

define their focus on the specifics of tasks related to achiev-

ing what they identify as familiar goals. Questions of effi-

ciency, equity, or effectiveness are all likely to emerge and

conflict with one another. While this is understandable, we

also need to pay attention to the way that similar issues oper-

ate in a setting where other often unfamiliar issues and expe-

riences are involved. For example, is there a link between

this virus and climate change, between this virus and food

safety, or between this virus and travel?

Implementation

Bringing any policy to life is an art form and requires atten-

tion to a broad range of issues. When a policy problem is as

vast as this one, it can be overwhelming. Students of policy

942426ARPXXX10.1177/0275074020942426The American Review of Public AdministrationRadin

research-article2020

1Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Beryl A. Radin, Retired Adjunct Professor of Public Policy, McCourt

School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.

Email: berylradin@verizon.net

What Have We Learned in the

Fields of Public Policy and Public

Administration That Might Be

Relevant to the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Beryl A. Radin1

Abstract

The pandemanic situation is a classic “wicked problem” issue. It is not clear what its limits are and what frameworks are

important to consider in dealing with it. This article focuses on the challenge of labeling the issue itself and finding ways to

link and differentiate it from previous policy situations. It also highlights the complexity of the implementation environment

of the issue.

Keywords

wicked problem, coronavirus pandemic, labeling, implementation