Digital Commons Network^™

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

THEOPHILUS HERRINGTON

No abstract provided.

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

Michael O Adams

No abstract provided.

Ssrn As An Initial Revolution In Academic Knowledge Aggregation And Dissemination, David Bray, Sascha Vitzthum, Benn Konsynski

Sascha Vitzthum

Within this paper we consider our results of using the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) over a period of 18 months to distribute our working papers to the research community. Our experiences have been quite positive, with SSRN serving as a platform both to inform our colleagues about our research as well as inform us about related research (through email and telephoned conversations of colleagues who discovered our paper on SSRN). We then discuss potential future directions for SSRN to consider, and how SSRN might well represent an initial revolution in 21st century academic knowledge aggregation and dissemination. Our paper …

Challenges For The U.S. Administration: A Broader Middle East Strategy, Gabriel C. Lajeunesse, William Wunderle

Gabriel C. Lajeunesse

The U.S. administration of Barack Obama will inherit a host of challenges in the Middle East. Several early policy choices could place its Middle East policy on solid footing:

Généticisation Et Responsabilité: Les Habits Neufs De La Gouvernance Néolibérale (Uncorrected Proofs), Antoinette Rouvroy

Antoinette Rouvroy

Loin du phantasme spectaculaire d’une “maléabilité” génétique de l’être humain, et nonobstant les discours grandiloquants qui ont accompagné la très coûteuse exploration du génome humain, la “nouvelle génétique humaine” ne révèle ni ne porte atteinte à l’essence de l’être humain (encore faudrait-il qu’une telle essence puisse jamais être définie), mais révolutionne notre perception des causes des smilitudes et variations au sein de l’espèce humaine. Le néologisme ‘généticisation’ désigne la contamination progressive des discours sociétaux (médicaux, juridiques, politiques, sociologiques,...) par une logique réductionniste et essentialiste faisant des gènes la cause privilégiée sinon exclusive des variations inter-personnelles et inter-communautaires au sein de …

Ethnicity And Public Service In Nigeria, Ozy B. Orluwene Jp

Dr Ozy B.Orluwene,JP

ABSTRACT This paper essentially examines the concept of ethnicity and public service in Nigeria. It posits that because of the monstrous proportion ethnicity assumed in Nigeria, it has remained a central turning point in the nation’s history. Its impact has further exacerbated problems of growth and development of Nigerian Public service and organizations.

The Growing Inter-Ethnic Conflicts In Contemporary Nigeria: Is Ethnic Security Dilemma A Root Cause?, Ali Simon Yusufu Bagaji

Ali Simon Yusufu Bagaji

Nigeria is ethnically a diverse nation-state. Its ethnic diversity, like that of the United State of America ideally is a source of strength. However on the contrary, analysis of post independence inter-ethnic relations in Nigeria indicates surge from ‘ethnic accommodation to ethnic agitation’. Consequently, due to frequent inter-ethnic conflict, the task ‘to keep Nigeria one’ is therefore more than ever becoming an uphill task. This article explores the root causes of the growing inter-ethnic conflicts in contemporary Nigeria from the perspective of the ethnic security dilemma prism and concludes that it is a relevant explanatory tool for understanding it.

National Humiliation, History Education, And The Politics Of Historical Memory, Zheng Wang

Zheng Wang

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Private Military Companies In Us-Africa Policy, Emmanuel Aning, Thomas Jaye, Samuel Atuobi

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This article discusses the increasing use of private military companies (PMCs) in United States' security policy in Africa, and examines this phenomenon in relation to the US' various military training programmes on the continent. We argue that the increasing use of PMCs in US security policy has evolved due to two critical and mutually dependent developments; African state weakness and resource stringency on the one hand, and the US's overwhelming security commitments around the world, combined with military downsizing, on the other. The article further argues that the involvement of PMCs is to a large extent informed by US concerns …

Towards Self-Organizing, Smart Business Networks: Let’S Create ‘Life’ From Inert Information, David Bray, Benn Konsynski

David A. Bray

We review three different theories that can inform how researchers can determine the performance of smart business networks, to include: (1) the Theory of Evolution, (2) the Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm, and (3) research insights into computers and cognition. We suggest that each of these theories demonstrate that to be generally perceived as smart, an organism needs to be self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. Consequentially, to determine the performance of a smart business network, we suggest that researchers need to determine the degree to which it is self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. We then relate these findings to the Internet and …

Social Policy, Imperiled Communities, And Hiv/Aids Transmission In Prisons: A Call For Zero Tolerance, Louis F. Graham, Henrie Treadwell, Kisha Braithwaite

Louis F Graham

HIV/AIDS and African-American male imprisonment contribute to the destruction of African-American communities. African-American men and HIV/AIDS are disproportionately represented throughout all sectors of the criminal justice industry, including the juvenile justice system. The criminal justice system contributes to unacceptably high African-American male imprisonment rates and HIV prevalence directly via the ‘war on drugs’ and lax enforcement of institutional policy among other things, and indirectly through perpetuation of economic hardship which further exacerbates imprisonment rates, thus closing the loop of a vicious cycle of revolving prison doors and HIV contraction. This article briefly introduces surrounding socio-political issues that contextualizes the ensuing …

Providing Access To Resilience-Enhancing Technologies For Disadvantaged Communities And Vulnerable Populations, John J. Kiefer, Jay Mancini, Betty H. Morrow, Hugh Gladwin, Terina Stewart

John J. Kiefer

No abstract provided.

Empathic Concern And Prosocial Behaviors: A Test Of Experimental Results Using Survey Data, Christopher J. Einolf

Christopher J Einolf

This study uses survey data to test the correlation between empathic concern and fourteen different prosocial behaviors, including informal help to individuals and formal helping through institutions. Statistically significant correlations were found for ten behaviors, but substantively meaningful correlations were only found for three, all of which were spontaneous, informal helping behaviors, where the individual needing help was directly present. The findings indicate that empathic concern may not be an important motivator for planned decisions to help others who are not immediately present, which often occurs with volunteering, charitable giving, and blood donation. The weak correlation between empathic concern and …

Liberdade, Ética E Direito, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Further than Ethics concieved as mere obedience, Republican Ethics expresses the idea of duty for freedom and Liberty. After Law concieved as only duty and imperative norms from power to the subjects, there is the possibility of a fraternal law, in new patterns. This article explores several ways in a new ethics and a new law paradigms, after the objective Roman Law and the subjective modern Law.

Plus On Est Observé, Moins On Est Sensible Aux Atteintes À La Vie Privée, Antoinette Rouvroy

Antoinette Rouvroy

Voir ce qui se passe dans sa rue, sur une plage aux Maldives ou au Nord-Kivu, au mètre près et en teps réel, ou presque. C'est le pari de e-Corce, un concept d'observation de la terre imaginé par l'agence spatiale française. Super Google Earth ou Big Brother?

Perspective - Calculating Political Risk, Catherine Althaus

Catherine E. Althaus

No abstract provided.

The Perfect Storm Of Patent Reform?, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

No abstract provided.

Corruption And Development In Nigeria: A Multidisciplanary Journal, Ozy B. Orluwene Jp

Dr Ozy B.Orluwene,JP

Abstract This paper offers a detail commentary on the state of corruption in Nigeria. It examined the phenomenon in its various dimensions. It posits that because of monstrous proportion it has assumed in Nigeria, it has hampered growth and development.

Remapping A Nation Without States: Personalized Full Representation For California’S 21st Century, Mark Paul, Micah Weinberg

Mark Paul

California is a state of many distinct regions. To give citizens a voice on regional issues and to reinvigorate California’s Legislature, the state’s central institution of self-government, we propose Personalized Full Representation for the 21st Century (PFR21), a system of representation by means of regionally based legislative elections that will allow the state’s citizens to set the agenda for their regions and for the state as a whole. By reshaping the stage on which legisla- tive politics is played out, California can make state govern- ment more attentive to regional issues and give its citizens a means of holding elected …

U.S. Foreign Policy Toward West Africa: Issues On Democracy, Economic Development And Security, Andrew Ewoh

Andrew I.E. Ewoh

No abstract provided.

Regional And Municipal Governance Of Public Private Partnerships, Louis Gunnigan

Louis Gunnigan

This module concentrates on the issues important to those who will be setting up PPPs and who are involved in government at a regional or municipal level. The module is centred on five tasks, namely:

• How to identify PPP opportunities and to find the best private sector partners for a PPP;

• How to organize a PPP programme within a government by enhancing cooperation amongst the relevant departments and ministries, local, regional and national authorities;

• How to be an effective manager and leader in a dynamic PPP unit;

• How to engage public support for PPPs;

• How …

Book Review 17 Me, Myself, And Why? The Secrets To Navigating Change By Lisa A. Mininni, William C. Mcpeck

William C. McPeck

This is my personal review of Me, Myself, and Why? The Secrets to Navigating Change by Lisa A. Mininni which was published in 2007 by PM Publishing.

Book Review 18 Make Room For Happiness By Steven Melemis, William C. Mcpeck

William C. McPeck

This is my review of Make Room for Happiness: 12 Ways to Improve Your Life By Letting Go of Tension. Better Health, Self-Esteem and Relationships by Steven Melemis, published by Modern Therapies in 2008.

Reinventing Libraries For Next Generation Of Library Users, La Loria Konata

La Loria Konata

Libraries have reinvented themselves to remain relevant in the 21st Century. During the early 1990s voters pushed towards “reinventing government.” Like governments in the 1990s, libraries are operating in a new environment and community that forces them to advocate their own relevancy against competitors and attract millennials as the next generation of library users. This paper examines how libraries are “reinventing” themselves and discusses key business management principles libraries must adopt to compete in a more diverse and abundant information environment.

Ali Child Support Principles: A Lesson In Public Policy And Truth-Telling, Karen Czapanskiy

Karen Czapanskiy

No abstract provided.

Icomos Charter For The Interpretation And Presentation Of Cultural Heritage Sites, Neil A. Silberman

Neil A. Silberman

No abstract provided.

Determinants Of Historic And Cultural Landmark Designation: Why We Preserve What We Preserve, Douglas S. Noonan, Douglas J. Krupka

Douglas S. Noonan

There is much interest among cultural economists in assessing the effects of heritage preservation policies. There has been less interest in modeling the policy choices made in historic and cultural landmark preservation. This paper builds an economic model of a landmark designation that highlights the tensions between the interests of owners of cultural amenities and the interests of the neighboring community. We perform empirical tests by estimating a discrete choice model for landmark preservation using data from Chicago, combining the Chicago Historical Resources Survey of over 17,000 historic structures with property sales, Census, and other geographic data. The data allow …

Gasoline Costs, Public Transit, And Sustainability, Bradley W. Lane

Bradley W. Lane

Excessive levels of automobile driving are generally acknowledged to have several negative externalities that contribute to the lack of sustainability in current transport systems. Achieving a reduction in VMT inevitably requires the introduction of disincentives for driving. This has generally been lacking in the US, which has relatively low parking costs and taxes on fuel compared to its developed-world counterparts. However, starting immediately after the Hurricane Katrina disaster, fuel costs in the United States have increased dramatically relative to previous long-term price behavior. This increase has brought attention to the driving behavior and travel preferences of US citizens. A large …

Vote For Charity's Sake, Aaron S. Edlin, Andrew Gelman, Noah Kaplan

Aaron Edlin

In a battleground state like Colorado or New Mexico, voting in the presidential election may be equivalent to giving $30,000 - $50,000 to others in expected value, and as such is an extremely efficient form of charity.

Quashing The Financial Firestorm, Aaron S. Edlin

Aaron Edlin

Start the financial rescue with containment, establish unlimited deposit insurance and continuous access to funds, then move to a well thought-out plan to quash the financial flames.