Insights
Equity and equality are believed to mean one thing, but the two terms differ greatly. Equality implies everyone is on the same level in society irrespective of resource distribution, but equity is concerned with ownership whereby each person has to possess something in terms of property.
Equality dictates that people should be treated in the same way as far as the apportionment of values and qualities is concerned while equity entails fairness, something that is popularly referred to as equality of outcomes (Glaser, Bartley, McGuire, & Bannon, 2011). In a family set up, for example, sharing of resources equally among the father, mother, and children amount to equality since each member receives an equal share without considering other factors that would result in the allocation of greater shares to a particular member.
Alternatively, the family might decide to distribute resources equitably based on the needs and requirements of each member, whereby the senior members will be allocated many shares, whereas children will get fewer because their needs are few as well. From this example, it is evident that equity refers mainly to the qualities of fair play, justice, objectivity, and handedness, while equality is all about equal sharing of resources and precise division.
Social equity and equality are some of the topics that raise ethical concerns because public administrators are torn between offering services equally and considering equity in the process. Cooper (2012) suggests that any public administrator has to consider uncertainties surrounding any ethically confusing concepts such as social equity and equality. Cooper further suggests that public administrators do not have the luxury of time since they are expected to offer critical services in a timely manner.
In Cooper’s view, a gathering of additional information is needed to facilitate decision-making as far as social equity and equality are concerned in public administration. Frederickson (2005) observed that public administrators had played a critical role in ensuring resources are distributed equitably in American society.
In his view, American society has never been equal; hence application of equality in the distribution of important resources is impossible, meaning public administrators must undertake the role of studying the society to comprehend the expectations and the needs of each group.
Resource
In his titled justice for all: promoting social equity in public administration, Johnson (2011) advises the public servants on some of the ways of realizing social equity in American society. The scholar hails the American populace for electing a black to be in charge of policy formulation and implementation in the country.
In his opinion, he sees the election of a black president as one way of pursuing the justice-for-all agenda more aggressively. In the past few decades, public administration in the United States is focused more on achieving social equity whereby the rights and expectations of each American are fulfilled.
Application
Racially-based policing is one of the major threats both to social equity and equality because it affects members of particular races from realizing their desired objectives and goals in society.
While the police service is charged with the role of protecting lives and property, they have the responsibility of applying the law equally and equitably in the sense that an individual is arrested based on the type of crime committed, but not the race or ethnicity.
The only strategy aimed at ending racial discrimination in the police service is instituting affirmative action principles to ensure the minority races are protected in society. Through affirmative action, the perpetrators are likely to be prosecuted in the court of law hence deterring their negative behaviors.
References
Cooper, T. L. (2012). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role (6th ed). New York: Jossey-Bass.
Frederickson, H. G. (2005). The state of social equity in the American public administration. National Civic Review, 94(4), 31-38.
Glaser, M. A., Bartley, H., W., McGuire, B. J., & Bannon, C., (2011). Frederickson’s social equity agenda applied: Public support and willingness to pay. Public Integrity, 14(1), 19-37.
Johnson, N. J. (2011). Justice for All: Promoting Social Equity in Public Administration. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.