Assignment task:
See case on the Pandemic and consider the following questions:
How does the level of government influence responses to the pandemic? What is the relationship between government and business in the pandemic response? Why does government perform the safety net function? How did nonprofits contribute to the pandemic response?
Global Pandemic:
COVID-19's spread was like pulling a strand of yarn on the global economy's sweater. The entire garment unraveled. International business and tourist traffic screeched to a halt and an international nonprofit, the World Health Organization (WHO), took heat for failing to act faster to alert the global community to the rapid spread of the deadly disease.
In the United States, kindergarteners to college students were sent home to learn online. Shops closed, unemployment surged, and food kitchens struggled to serve the hungry. Office jobs were converted to telework, workers in nonessential jobs were furloughed, and hospitals were swamped with COVID-19 patients. To avoid contagion, riders stopped using public transit. Governors' offices raced to issue guidance regarding mask-wearing, social distancing, and business closures, and they tapped every resource available to secure personal protective gear for essential workers.
Work slowdowns occurred as supply chain holdups interfered with production and sickness beset workers. People hoarded food, toiletries, and cleansers as they bunkered down at home, and shortages from toilet paper to beans left grocery shelves empty. Shortcomings in reliable internet service became apparent as office workers conducted business from home and school children used it to connect with teachers.
Every community and segment of the economy was affected: From county health departments whose work pivoted to contract tracing, to the U.S. Census Bureau whose ranks of newly trained census workers for the decennial census thinned rather than risk exposure to COVID-19, to county supervisors of elections as they hurriedly added mail-in voting as an option for the upcoming presidential election. State unemployment offices were slammed with applications for benefits. Teachers redesigned lessons to accommodate remote learning and healthcare facilities increased staffing to serve the influx of COVID-19 cases. Restaurants, museums, libraries, and theaters closed, and concerts were canceled. Team sports stopped until safety and testing protocols were put in place and then they resumed but without fans in the stands. Air travel and hotel stays slowed to a trickle as conventions and leisure travel stopped. With everyone staying home, the tax base eroded as sales, hospitality, and gasoline taxes plummeted.
At the federal level, the Centers for Disease Control and Health and Human Services agencies made daily headlines. Partnerships with pharmaceutical firms propelled vaccine development and the Food and Drug Administration expedited vaccine approval. At the state level, unemployment offices and legislatures dealt with stopgap funding and legal measures to forestall evictions as furloughed workers struggled to stay in their homes. School districts struggled to maintain some semblance of normal educational processes. Cities and counties stretched their reserves to maintain usual operations along with COVlD-19 related services as deaths skyrocketed. Cities sought extra burial spaces and begged for emergency funds from states, and states begged for emergency funds from the federal government.
While COVID-19 triggered an all-hands-on-deck response from governments, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare facilities, retail businesses, churches, food kitchens, and housing shelters, it was the government that everyone turned to for planning, coordination, regulation, and financial relief. This is the function of government: to provide leadership, coordinate efforts, set the stage for problem-solving, and serve as safety nets for those in need. Relying on the business community to manufacture products, governments work hand-in-glove with nonprofits to patch the fissures left by market failure. Government cannot ensure domestic tranquility by acting alone, but by joining hands with nonprofits and by partnering with businesses, public purposes are achieved.
This case illustrates the mosaic that comprises American governance. Public administration involves management, politics, and law, all of which combine to shape public action. It involves routine functions as well as crisis response.