"Boston Strong: Lessons Learned, Gaps Remaining, and New Issues Since 9/11"
A symposium to be published in Public Administration Review
Public Administration Review and Suffolk University guest editors, Aimee Williamson and Brenda Bond, seek article proposals for a symposium on the public administration response to the Boston Marathon attacks. The focus of this symposium will be on lessons learned, gaps remaining, and new issues for public administration since 9/11. With much in print about the failures of interagency coordination and communication leading up to the attacks on 9/11, the public and nonprofit response to the Boston Marathon bombings brings an opportunity to evaluate where we are now and to illustrate some exceptional efforts of public and nonprofit administrators and organizations. We seek to apply key public administration issues to public and nonprofit roles in the preparation and prevention efforts made since 9/11, the response in the immediate aftermath of the attacks to secure the area and tend to victims, the manhunt that followed, and the ongoing efforts to achieve justice for victims and the community.
We welcome proposals on a wide range of issues related to public administration. We request that all papers connect the recent events with relevant public administration theory and touch upon the theme of lessons learned, gaps remaining, and new issues for public administration since 9/11. We encourage proposals based on empirical evidence and those that will increase our understanding of public administration under such circumstances. Examples of possible areas include:
· Intergovernmental relations and interagency collaboration. The recent events provide an opportunity to identify and evaluate systems in place to improve coordination and communication in prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. How far have we come in this area and how much farther do we need to move? Articles could consider the interagency coordination related to intelligence efforts prior to the attack, the immediate aftermath of securing the area and tending to the victims, the resulting manhunt, and/or community recovery efforts.
· Leadership. Examples of exemplary leaders in public safety, hospital administration, or nonprofit management have emerged throughout these events, illustrating key leadership skills, traits, and behaviors. Articles could provide profiles of key leaders or analyze the situation in the context of leadership theories and concepts, such as roving leadership or leadership in crisis.
· Role of nonprofit and community organizations. This attack highlights the important role of nonprofit and community efforts in this era of governance, including the BAA, local hospitals, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the establishment of the One Fund Boston. Coordination among such organizations and the public sector is of particular interest. For example, are there lessons learned from the creation of Boston's Medical Intelligence Center or the establishment of the One Fund Boston of value for other communities?
· Role of the media and/or social networking. What are the implications of changes in the media and other communication tools for protecting for homeland security, community policing, and/or public administration more broadly?
· The broader community as contributors. The role of private citizens and businesses has changed since September 2001. What are the implications for the relationship between the public and the police, public information systems, or the medical community?
Please submit a brief proposal (an abstract will suffice) and any questions to Aimee Williamson and Brenda Bond at awilliamson@suffolk.edu as soon as possible, but no later than July 31, 2013. Plan to submit final papers by September 30, 2013. We are working on a tight deadline in an effort to publish this symposium in the spring of 2014 in recognition of the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon attacks.