How Can We Democratize Higher Education if We Don’t Count the Votes? An MPA Case Study

Abstract

The American Society for Public Administration and the National Academy of Public Administration, as well as several leading authors in our field, have expressed support for a range of ethical principles, including representativeness, diversity, affirmative action, equality, fairness, and justice. Various social equity reformers have argued that universities should expand their integrative efforts to include more students of poverty and working class origins. This study surveyed the nation’s 50 top-rated MPA schools, asking whether they collect data about their students’ socioeconomic backgrounds. While other academic disciplines have initiated social class-based affirmative action plans for enrolling students, none of the 43 survey respondents said they do so. The discussion closes by suggesting that, with this study’s evidence and justification in place, academic public administration, driven by its commitment to the discipline’s acknowledged ideals, has a sound rationale for establishing economic affirmative action plans for student diversity purposes.