Digital Commons Network^™

Energy Conservation Day: Symbolism Doesn’T Pay, Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan

Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan

The much publicised panting competition at school level on the occasion of Energy Conservation Day was a good effort to send message to consumers to influence their energy consumption behaviour. But the effect is minuscule.

As a child one might have walked or cycled to school. But as a breadwinner, once energy related decisions largely get influenced by one's income level and opportunities and restrictions.

Landmark Ruling On Whaling From The International Court Of Justice, Mark P. Simmonds

Mark P. Simmonds, OBE

On 31 March 2014, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Japan’s whaling activities in Antarctica did not comply with Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), which permits whaling for scientific purposes. Copious and confusing media commentary followed the decision. This included seemingly conflicting reports from within Japan, which initially indicated whole-hearted compliance with the ruling, which required this whaling to cease, but later suggested that implementation by Japan might be limited to a brief halt followed by a launch of a new Antarctic ‘research’ programme including lethal take.

The Effectiveness Of The Endangered Species Act: A Quantitative Analysis, Martin F.J. Taylor, Kieran F. Suckling, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Population trends for 1095 species listed as threatened and endangered under the Endangered Species Act were correlated with the length of time the species were listed and the presence or absence of critical habitat and recovery plans. Species with critical habitat for two or more years were more than twice as likely to have an improving population trend in the late 1990s, and less than half as likely to be declining in the early 1990s, as species without. Species with dedicated recovery plans for two or more years were significantly more likely to be improving and less likely to be …

Balancing Inclusion And “Enlightened Understanding” In Designing Online Civic Participation Systems: Experiences From Regulation Room, Cynthia R. Farina, Mary J. Newhart, Josiah Heidt, Jackeline Solivan

Cynthia R. Farina

New forms of online citizen participation in government decision making have been fostered in the United States (U.S.) under the Obama Administration. Use of Web information technologies have been encouraged in an effort to create more back-and-forth communication between citizens and their government. These “Civic Participation 2.0” attempts to open the government up to broader public participation are based on three pillars of open government—transparency, participation, and collaboration. Thus far, the Administration has modeled Civic Participation 2.0 almost exclusively on the Web 2.0 ethos, in which users are enabled to shape the discussion and encouraged to assess the value of …

Regulationroom: Field-Testing An Online Public Participation Platform During Usa Agency Rulemakings, Cynthia R. Farina, Josiah Heidt, Mary J. Newhart, Joan-Josep Vallbé

Cynthia R. Farina

Rulemaking is one of the U.S. government's most important policymaking methods. Although broad transparency and participation rights are part of its legal structure, significant barriers prevent effective engagement by many groups of interested citizens. RegulationRoom, an experimental open-government partnership between academic researchers and government agencies, is a socio-technical participation system that uses multiple methods to alert and effectively engage new voices in rulemaking. Initial results give cause for optimism but also caution that successful use of new technologies to increase participation in complex government policy decisions is more difficult and resource-intensive than many proponents expect.

Rulemaking 2.0: Understanding And Getting Better Public Participation, Cynthia R. Farina, Mary J. Newhart

Cynthia R. Farina

More than a decade after the launch of Regulations.gov, the government-wide federal online rulemaking portal, and nearly four years since the Obama Administration directed agencies to use “innovative tools and practices that create new and easier methods for public engagement,” there are still more questions than answers about what value social media and other Web 2 .0 technologies can bring to rulemaking–and about how agencies can realize that value. This report, commissioned by the IBM Center for the Business of Government, begins to provide those answers. Drawing on insights from a number of disciplines and on three years of actual …

Using Natural Language Processing To Improve Erulemaking [Project Highlight], Claire Cardie, Cynthia R. Farina, Thomas R. Bruce

Cynthia R. Farina

This paper describes in brief Cornell’s interdisciplinary eRulemaking project that was recently funded (December, 2005) by the National Science Foundation.

Prof. Vibhuti Patel On Gender Responsive Budgets In India, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

Budget is an important tool in the hands of state for affirmative action for improvement of gender relations through reduction of gender gap in the development process. It can help to reduce economic inequalities as well as gender inequalities. Hence, the budgetary policies need to keep into consideration the gender dynamics operating in the economy and in the civil society. There is a need to highlight participatory approaches, bottom up budget, child budget, green budgeting, local and global implications of pro-poor and pro-women budgeting and inter-linkages between gender-sensitive budgeting and women’s empowerment. It is good economic sense to make national …

Perspectives On The Global Financial Crisis From Emerging Managers And Public Policy Makers [Full Version], James L. Grant

James L. Grant

This manuscript attempts to capture the perspectives of emerging managers and public policy makers as evinced in the perspectives of graduate students and others who were enrolled in my newly developed course on the global financial crisis—first offered in the 2010 Harvard Summer Economics Program—at a time when students were engaged in the midst and aftermath of the most severe U.S. and worldwide recession since the Great Depression of the early 1930s. The many perspectives gathered on the causes, consequences, remedies, and perhaps more importantly, a glimpse at student thoughts, concerns, and worries at the time—have been collected from the …

Value Focused Thinking For Community-Based Organizations: Objectives And Acceptance In Local Development, Jeffrey Keisler, David Turcotte, Rachel Drew, Michael Johnson

Jeffrey Keisler

A multi-site case study applies value-focused thinking methods in a community engaged research framework within three organizations. All three organizations are community development corporations (CDCs), a type of community based organization (CBO) who direct assets and efforts toward housing stock and neighborhood improvement. Objectives hierarchies were developed for the three sites. A set of common aspects of these structures suggest ways to operationalize the generic mission of CDCs. Other aspects which vary across sites can be related to specific characteristics of the organizations and the communities in which they operate. The process of applying value-focused thinking is also compared across …

Electronic Supplement For: Value Focused Thinking For Community-Based Organizations: Objectives And Acceptance In Local Development, Jeffrey Keisler

Jeffrey Keisler

This is an electronic supplement containing additional information describing the case studies analyzed in the article published in EURO Journal of Decision Processes

Primary Health Centres And Patients Satisfaction Level In Haripad Community Development Block Of Kerala, India, Pankaj Roy

Pankaj Roy

Federal Civil Rights Litigation Pursuant To 42 U.S.C. §1983 As A Correlate Of Police Misconduct, Philip M. Stinson, Steven L. Brewer Jr, Theresa M. Lanese, Mallorie A. Wilson

Philip M Stinson

Police officers acting in their official capacity are subject to being sued in federal court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1983 for violating constitutional rights under the color of law. Using data obtained in a larger study on police crime in the United States, names of more than 5,500 nonfederal sworn law enforcement officers who were arrested during the years 2005-2011 were checked against the civil case party master name index of the federal courts’ Public Access to Courts Electronic Records (PACER) system. Findings indicate that more than 20% of the police officers who were arrested for committing one or more …

Response To Comments: The Informal Housing Debate Remains Open, Jonathan P. Bell

Jonathan P. Bell

UrbDeZine, November 12, 2014. In this follow up article on informal housing in Los Angeles, I respond to comments and take on critics who devalue housing code enforcement. I argue that unpermitted housing is inherently unsafe, and unsafe housing is not a viable housing option. I call for all sides of the informal housing debate to come together to look for solutions. URL: http://losangeles.urbdezine.com/2014/11/12/response-to-comments-the-informal-housing-debate-remains-open/

Community Impacts Of Decision Modeling For Foreclosed Redevelopment, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Alvine Sangang, Buki Usidame

Michael P. Johnson

Community development corporations purchase distressed housing to rehabilitate for renter or owner-occupancy. These mission-driven organizations, skilled in the business of housing development, often lack analytic expertise to determine which acquisitions to pursue that would maximize social impact. This paper presents results, using actual purchase data from a Boston-area CDC, to assess the potential social benefits associated with using a decision model as compared to conventional practices.

Desktop Medicine, Jason Karlawish

Jason Karlawish

No abstract provided.

Addressing The Ethical, Legal, And Social Issues Raised By Voting By Persons With Dementia, Jason H. Karlawish, Richard J. Bonnie, Paul S. Appelbaum, Constantine Lyketsos, Bryan James, David Knopman, Christopher Patusky, Rosalie A. Kane, Pamela S. Karlan

Jason Karlawish

This article addresses an emerging policy problem in the United States participation in the electoral process by citizens with dementia. At present, health care professionals, family caregivers, and long-term care staff lack adequate guidance to decide whether individuals with dementia should be precluded from or assisted in casting a ballot. Voting by persons with dementia raises a series of important questions about the autonomy of individuals with dementia, the integrity of the electoral process, and the prevention of fraud. Three subsidiary issues warrant special attention: development of a method to assess capacity to vote; identification of appropriate kinds of assistance …

Tradition?! Traditional Cultural Institutions On Customary Practices In Uganda, Joanna R. Quinn

Joanna R. Quinn

Open Government Partnership En México Y Brasil: La Transparencia Como Responsabilidad Compartida, Juan Jaime Mesina

Juan Jaime Mesina

Data And Analytics For Neighborhood Development: Smart Shrinkage Decision Modeling In Baltimore, Maryland, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Justin Hollander, Eliza D. Whiteman

Michael P. Johnson

Many older cities in the United States confront the problem of long-term declines in population and economic activity in certain neighborhoods have resulted in blighted conditions that make conventional revitalization initiatives based on increased residential and commercial development unlikely to succeed. Planning scholars have developed a theory of smart shrinkage in which emphasis is placed on non-residential land uses that can maintain and improve quality of life while positioning some land for future growth-oriented activities (Hollander and Németh 2011). Smart shrinkage research and practice involves application of methods from information technology and decision science to identify vacant and abandoned parcels …

Voices Of Blackford County: Employing Counter-Normative Pedagogy In Service Learning, Sherrie M. Steiner

Sherrie M Steiner

No abstract provided.

Invisible No More: Domestic Workers Organizing In Massachusetts And Beyond, Natalicia Tracy, Tim Sieber, Susan Moir Scd

Tim Sieber

Domestic workers across the country are making it clear that, even in a difficult political environment, it is possible to make gains for low-wage workers. For the first time in many, many decades, domestic workers are finding ways to win. They are creat
ing policy change that will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers in tangible and substantial ways. The 2014 Massachusetts Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights is the most expansive codification of rights for this long-overlooked part of the labor force ever to be enacted. In one sense, there is nothing new about domestic workers organizing …

Strategy Design For Community Response To Distress And Decline Using Data Analytics, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

The foreclosure crisis in the U.S. has resulted in immense economic and social losses for individuals and neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods face long-term declines in population and economic activity that have been compounded by the foreclosure crisis. How can government and non-profit organizations design responses to neighborhood distress that reflect distinctive community characteristics and are consistent with long-term policy and planning goals? In this talk, I discuss alternative decision modeling strategies that support neighborhood health. Where foreclosure responses are likely to ensure that neighborhoods remain vital places for residential housing, productive strategies may include property acquisition and redevelopment. Other neighborhoods, however, …

Urban Blue Space And "The Project Of The Century": Doing Justice On The Seattle Waterfront And For Local Residents, Anne Wessells

Anne Taufen

No abstract provided.

Citizen Confidence In The Public Service: An Examination Of Established And Emerging Democracies In North America And Eurasia, Nurgul Ryskulovna Aitalieva

Nurgul R. Aitalieva, Ph.D.

How do levels of confidence in the public service differ across countries? Are these attitudes about the public service determined by similar individual-level attributes across countries? Do country-level correlates explain variation between countries in citizen attitudes toward the public service? Data from the 2005-2009 World Values Survey for 21 North American and Eurasian countries, in addition to aggregate-level measures of national context, are analyzed using multilevel binary logistic regression. The study shows that there is a significant amount of variation in the confidence attitudes not only within each country but also across countries. Citizens of Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and Finland …

Tennessee Municipal Benchmarking Project Fy2010, Frances Adams-O'Brien, Rick Whitehead, Nurgul Aitalieva, Matthew Marshall, David Folz

Nurgul R. Aitalieva, Ph.D.

FY2010 annual report to compare the relative cost, efficiency and effectiveness of a set of municipal services by using a collaborative approach with the participating cities, and to set standards and identify "best practices" in municipal government for use and comparison by all Tennessee cities. Per capita average costs of providing police, fire and residential refuse services are presented.

Completing Your Story: Explaining Your 'Colorful' Career History To Potential Employers, Keri Schwab

Keri Schwab

KATIE, A 26 year-old volunteer coordinator for an educational nonprofit, was on her fifth "job" since graduating from college and in the process of applying for a sixth. Her resume read like a magazine article for 20-somethings: Six jobs to try before 30! She had served as an AmeriCorps volunteer, an international volunteer, worked a seasonal job with a film institute, completed a contract for an environmental group, and finally settled into a volunteer coordinator position. Next up, she was applying for an outreach position with an environmental non-profit. Well qualified and with excellent references, her biggest challenge was explaining …

Cyber Resilience Is A National Problem, Jan Kallberg

Jan Kallberg

The biggest challenge for American cyber resilience right now is to disseminate knowledge within the nation. The federal sector, the financial institutions, and the defense complex are on top of the game to a high degree. The asymmetric way cyber conflicts are and will be fought exposes the whole government structure of a country. The sheer numbers entities that form local government are staggering – just as examples I mention that in the US there are 6,000 counties, 15,000 police departments, and 50,000 public utilities. My take is that to be able to strengthen American cyber resiliency local government needs …

A Critical Examination Of The Climate Engineering Moral Hazard And Risk Compensation Concern, Jesse Reynolds

Jesse Reynolds

Future Ideological Challenges: Fault Lines, Movements, And Competing Models (Annotated Bibliography Based On Survey Of The Literature), William J. Lahneman

William J. Lahneman

“The Strategic Assessments Group tasked CISSM to survey the literature for information dealing with nascent or future idea-based themes, fault lines, and challenges as part of the Future Ideological Challenges research effort.”—Executive Summary from Future Ideological Challenges: Fault Lines, Movements, and Competing Models (Report on Survey of the Literature).