["Social Science Quarterly, EarlyView. ", "\nAbstract\n\nObjective\nThis article identifies the role of structural racism in policy implementation and argues that a starting point to evaluate the potential outcomes of calls for systemic change is to better situate racism in the study of policy implementation.\n\n\nMethod\nThis article reviews existing policy implementation literature to assess the extent to which they account for structural racism in their analyses of policy implementation success and failure.\n\n\nResult\nPolicy failures have been attributed to multiple factors, including hierarchies and communication problems, but rarely to racism.\n\n\nConclusion\nIf racism is to be taken seriously by public administration scholars, then a new conceptual understanding is called for along with better efforts to operationalize the crippling impact racism has on public organizations.\n\n"]