Digital Commons Network^™

Summary Of 2008 Homeland Security Symposium At The National Academies: Fostering Public-Private Partnerships, George H. Baker, Cheryl J. Elliott

George H Baker

Recent U.S. high consequence events have made clear the importance of government collaboration with industry. The benefits of such collaboration were clearly seen as a lesson from Hurricane Katrina. The resources owned and controlled by American industry dwarf those available to local, state and even the federal government departments. Better agreements and incentives to bring the full capabilities of industry squarely into the national response agenda will be indispensable in effectively responding to large-scale catastrophes. General Russel Honoré who led the National Guard response to Katrina has said, “We need the partnering between local, state, and federal governments; but the …

Book Review 12 Happy For No Reason: 7 Steps To Being Happy From The Inside Out By Marci Shimoff, William C. Mcpeck

William C. McPeck

This is my personal review of Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out by Marci Shimoff and published by Free Press in 2008.

Reducing World Poverty By Improving Evaluation Of Development Aid, Paul Clements, Thomaz Chianca, Ryoh Sasaki

Paul Clements

No abstract provided.

The Status And Future Of Methane Destruction Projects In Mexico, Elizabeth L. Aldrich

Elizabeth Lokey Aldrich

Of the Clean Development Mechanism projects that exist in Mexico, methane destruction projects from hog farms dominate the landscape with 56% of the projects developed and 49% of the Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) that will be generated within the country by 2012. These biodigesters, however, have experienced many technical difficulties that place their future viability for the production of CERs and continued development in question. Because of these challenges, future methane capture in the country may focus around other agro industries or landfills.

A Study Of Flexicurity Strategy In Netherlands And Denmark: The Institutional Life-Course Policy Approach, Chih-Lung Huang

Chih-lung Huang

The flexicurity strategy in Netherlands and Denmark, i.e. flexible labour market and the reinforcement of social security institutions, successfully kept the unemployment rate from rising in the 1990s and has drawn attention from social policy scholars. Under the development of flexible labour market and destabilized employment pattern, the agenda of flexicurity strategy has been shifted to strengthen and facilitate the transitions in social security institutions. Drawing on institutional analysis on redistribution of time and income, this paper explores outcomes and development from recent flexicurity reforms. Results show that the working time in Netherlands and Denmark has been redistributed both vertically …

The Corporate Assault On Democracy, Sharon Beder

Sharon Beder

The revolutionary shift that we are witnessing at the beginning of the 21st Century from democracy to corporate rule is as significant as the shift from monarchy to democracy, which ushered in the modern age of nation states. It represents a wholesale change in cultural values and aspirations.

Electricity: The Global Impact Of Power Reforms, Sharon Beder

Sharon Beder

Dozens of governments have embarked on the pathway to electricity deregulation and privatisation since the mid-1990s. It has become the accepted wisdom amongst governments and opinion leaders despite the consequent price rises and disasters that have followed in its wake: the series of blackouts that have been experienced from Buenos Aires to Auckland; the government bailouts of electricity companies that have been necessary in California and Britain; the need for electricity rationing in Brazil; and the fact that it has become too expensive for millions of people from India to South Africa.

Grounded History: A Keynote Address To The 14th Annual Massachusetts Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference, Amilcar Shabazz

Amilcar Shabazz

No abstract provided.

The Practical Effects Of Delegation: Agencies And The Zoning Of Public Lands And Seas, Josh Eagle

Josh Eagle

Legislative efforts to delegate zoning power to public land and ocean management agencies have generally proven unsuccessful. When given the power to create uniform-use areas such as parks and wilderness areas within their broader jurisdictions, agencies either have opted not to exercise it or have been extremely hesitant to do so. The tepid administrative response to zoning is not surprising. Zoning decisions are politically charged, are likely to offend powerful, concentrated interest groups, and erode the discretion that is the core of agency power. These aspects of zoning decisions explain why, by contrast, all states require that municipal zoning ordinances …

Telecommunications In Africa: Small Island Developing States, Ewan Sutherland

Ewan Sutherland

Analysis of telecommunications policy and practice in Africa tends to focus on a few large markets (e.g., Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa), even though the lessons from these may not easily be scaled down for other countries. At the other extreme, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) lie at the periphery, both geographically and in the sustainability and affordability of their services. They face disproportionate challenges in creating and maintaining properly functioning markets, not least as they are more susceptible to climatic and economic shocks. Like other African countries they too need to deliver services to businesses and citizens.

There …

The Anfal Campaign Of Genocide Against Kurds In Iraq: Historical Context And Overview, Jesse Benjamin

Jesse Benjamin

No abstract provided.

Resultados De La Encuesta De Percepción Entre Ciudadanos Estadounidenses Y Canadienses Residentes En México, Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu

Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu

Esta presentación resume los principales resultados de una encuesta de percepción entre ciudadanos estadounidenses y canadienses residentes en México levantada a través de Internet por la Unidad de Seguros, Pensiones y Seguridad Social de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público de México en 2008. El objetivo de la encuesta fue ayudar en el diseño de una estrategia que permita la atracción a Mexico de un mayor número de ciudadanos extranjeros para efectos de migración durante el retiro y de turismo médico.

First Ladies Of The Twentieth And Twenty-First Centuries: An Evolution Of The Role, Courtney M. Page, Shaelyn Mcclanahan, Laurelin Weiss

Courtney M. Page

It is often noted as one of the more powerful positions in the executive branch in American politics and stands as an unofficial and un-elected position acquired by circumstance. The unique position of First Lady has led several authors to examine the role and influence that first ladies possess during their husband’s tenure as President of the United States. This piece examines the First Ladies of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, assigning each first lady to an original typology. The piece then assesses the involvement of each First Lady according to their activity within the White House, in domestic issues, …

The Effect Of Distance From Central Cities On Partisan Outcomes In Elections, Elizabeth Stiles, Larry Schwab

Elizabeth A. Stiles

No abstract provided.

The Entrepreneurial Assumption: Thinking About Taxes In Contemporary Political Theory, Mindy Peden

Mindy Peden

This article argues that contemporary political theory often contains an obscured supposition that I call the entrepreneurial assumption. This assumption can be seen most clearly when political theorists who do not have economic expertise per se theorize the relationship between their political thought and taxation. In order to explicate the entrepreneurial assumption, the article engages in close readings of John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and Ronald Dworkin. By elaborating on each of these authors' views, the importance of preserving “talent” through a system of taxation, the centrality of the entrepreneurial assumption can be seen more clearly.

From 'Voluntary' To A 'Binding' Process: Towards The Securitisation Of Small Arms, Emmanuel Aning

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This article analyses the issue of small arms and light weapons (SALW) proliferation in both Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Specifically, it assesses the extent to which both Ghana and ECOWAS have 'securitised' this particular issue through an initial 'voluntary' instrument first in 1998 and extended in 2001 until the signing in June 2006 of a legally and politically binding ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and Other Related Materials. To do so, the article begins by setting out the scope and a brief history of the SALW problem in West …

Entrepreneurs, Organizational Strength And The Pursuit Of Public Goods By Voluntary Organizations, Elizabeth Stiles

Elizabeth A. Stiles

Robert Salisbury has assumed that interest group entrepreneurs are profit-driven and make attempts to procure collective goods to increase their membership and revenue. This article's research question takes the reverse of Salisbury's claim: can interest group entrepreneurs increase the likelihood of procuring collective goods by increasing their organizational strength? Results of a study of statewide Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) organizations show that larger memberships are positively and significantly associated with success in procuring collective goals while increased budgets are significantly but negatively associated. The implications are twofold. First, the assumption that entrepreneurs pursue collective goods for reasons of …

Reverse Auctions And Universal Telecommunications Service: Lessons From Global Experience, Scott J. Wallsten

Scott J. Wallsten

The United States now spends around $7 billion on universal service programs—subsidies intended to ensure that the entire country has access to telecommunications services. Most of this money supports telecommunications service in “high cost” (primarily rural) areas, and the High Cost fund is growing quickly. In response to this growth, policymakers are considering using reverse auctions, or bids for the minimum subsidy, as a way to reduce expenditures. While the U.S. has not yet distributed funds for universal service programs using reverse auctions, the method has been used widely. First, reverse auctions are akin to standard government procurement procedures, which …

Disability Rights In Ireland: Chronicle Of A Missed Opportunity, Jurgen De Wispelaere, Judy Walsh

Jurgen De Wispelaere

This article critically examines the Disability Act 2005 which regulates access to public services for disabled people in Ireland. We examine the competing conceptions of disability rights advanced by the government and the disability sector during the debate on the legislation and offer an interpretation of disability rights as the justiciable right to challenge. The Disability Act 2005 is then evaluated in light of the proposed framework. We outline a number of ways in which the absence of a justiciable right to challenge fails to safeguard the dignity, empowerment and participation of disabled people. We contend that, despite protestations to …

Freshwater Conservation: A Review Of Oregon Water Law & Policy, Adell L. Amos

Adell L. Amos

In order to more fully understand and enhance freshwater conservation in the State of Oregon, The Nature Conservancy initiated a project to conduct a legal and policy review of Oregon water law. In Oregon, like all western states, water management is based on a combination of statutes, administrative rules, agency policies, and case law. Accordingly, this report identifies and explains relevant provisions of the Oregon Water Code and discusses how the legislature, state administrative agencies, and the courts have interpreted the law. The report also identifies the impacts and implications of legal and policy choices that have been made with …

The Effect Of Foreign Science Policy On U.S. Research, Diana M. Hicks

Diana Hicks

Houston Housing Authority And The Status Of Affordable Housing For Low Income Families. Paper/Presentation, Andrew Ewoh, Michael Adams

Andrew I.E. Ewoh

No abstract provided.

Business Improvement Districts: The Case Of Municipal Management Districts In Houston. Paper/Presentation, Andrew Ewoh, Theophilus Herrington

Andrew I.E. Ewoh

No abstract provided.

An Association To Improve Evaluation Of Development Aid, Paul Clements

Paul Clements

No abstract provided.

Judgments Of The United States Supreme Court And The South African Constitutional Court As A Basis For A Universal Method To Resolve Conflicts Between Fundamental Rights, Daniel H. Erskine

Daniel H. Erskine

This article describes the methods utilized by the United States Supreme Court to resolve specific cases involving conflicts between federal constitutional rights, a federal constitutional right and a state constitutional or statutory right, and an international treaty right and a federal constitutional right. Consideration of particular decisions representative of the manner the Court resolves conflicts between rights in the three typologies described above, illustrates how the Court views such conflicts and the rationales employed to resolve apparent conflicting rights. The rationales used by the United States Supreme Court are compared to the South African Constitutional Court’s decisions in the Soobramoney, …

Accountability, Cost-Effectiveness, And Program Performance: Progress Since 1998, Dennis P. Culhane, Kennen S. Gross, Wayne D. Parker, Barbara Poppe, Ezra Sykes

Dennis P. Culhane

The authors summarize the progress made in the past decade toward making homeless assistance programs more accountable to funders, consumers, and the public. They observe that research on the costs of homelessness and cost offsets associated with intervention programs has been limited to people who are homeless with severe mental illness. But this research has raised awareness of the value of this approach, such that dozens of new studies in this area are underway, mostly focused on "chronic homelessness." Less progress has been made in using cost and performance data to systematically assess interventions for families, youth, and transitionally homeless …

سردم شد, Sajjad Khaksari

SAJJAD KHAKSARI

Us Peace-Operations Policy In Africa: From Acri To Africom, A. Sarjoh Bah, Emmanuel Aning

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This article examines the changing nature of US peacekeeping policy in Africa in the postcold war period. After an account of the failures in Somalia and Rwanda in the early 1990s, it traces the evolution of various training programmes, from the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) in the early 1990s to the African Command (AFRICOM). We argue that, while these initiatives had some characteristics that were welcomed by African states, the programmes never achieved their full potential. The United States was quick to replace one programme with another when it ran into difficulty with the recipients, leading to a shift …

Kenya's Post-Election Violence In Colonial Context: The Invention And Renegotiation Of Ethnicity, Nationalism And Structures Of Post-Colonial Power, Jesse Benjamin

Jesse Benjamin

No abstract provided.

Testing A Typology Of Family Homelessness Based On Patterns Of Public Shelter Utilization In Four U.S. Jurisdictions: Implications For Policy And Program Planning, Dennis P. Culhane, Stephen Metraux, Jung Min Park, Maryanne Schretzman, Jesse Valente

Dennis P. Culhane

This study tests a typology of family homelessness based on patterns of public shelter utilization and examines whether family characteristics are associated with those patterns. The results indicate that a substantial majority of homeless families stay in public shelters for relatively brief periods, exit, and do not return. Approximately 20 percent stay for long periods. A small but noteworthy proportion cycles in and out of shelters repeatedly. In general, families with long stays are no more likely than families with short stays to have intensive behavioral health treatment histories, to be disabled, or to be unemployed. Families with repeat stays …