The Flawed Foundations of Social Equity in Public Administration: A Racial Contract Theory Critique.

The article critically examines the philosophical foundations of the social equity concept in American public administration, arguing that its traditional grounding in the social contract theories of John Rawls, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (RLR) overlooks the racialized and exclusionary realities of U.S. history. Introducing Charles Mills' racial contract theory, the authors contend that America's so-called social contract was in fact a racial contract privileging White individuals while marginalizing non-White populations, thus challenging the legitimacy and completeness of RLR-based social equity frameworks. The essay calls for a disciplinary reassessment that acknowledges historical racial injustices and incorporates diverse philosophical perspectives beyond the Eurocentric and male-dominated canon to develop a more inclusive and historically grounded theory of social equity in public administration.