Digital Commons Network^™

Strengthening Security And Oversight At Biological Research Laboratories, Michael Greenberger

Michael Greenberger

With the advent of the Anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001, this Nation has been confronted with a serious policy conundrum. On the one hand, we have strengthened programs that encourage the use of our best scientific resources to develop countermeasures to the weaponization of highly dangerous biopathogens. On the other hand, research on those countermeasures requires the use of the very biopathogens we seek to defeat. There have been many mishaps in the handling of those pathogens, which raises the frightening prospect that the research may be as (or more) dangerous than the potential bioterrorist acts themselves. Indeed, …

Re-Visioning The Future Of Work: Towards A New Mindset, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.

The Obama Administration's Challenges After The 'War On Science': Reforming Staffing Practices And Protecting Scientific Integrity In The Executive Branch, Justin Vaughn, José Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

In this article, we examine the difficult leadership position President Barack Obama inherited as he took office with respect to science and technology policy making and implementation, particularly following the Bush administration and years of the so-called "war on science." We contend that the Obama administration's challenge is not only to take substantive policy action, but also to reform certain administrative practices, particularly in light of the previous administration's practice of the politics of strategic vacancies, a managerial technique that rearranges an agency's ideological inclinations not through the usual forms of active politicization (i.e., by filling the appointee ranks with …

Tobacco Use Policymaking And Administration In Bhutan, Michael S. Givel

Michael S. Givel

No abstract provided.

Employment In Construction And Distribution Industries: The Impact Of The New Jobs Tax Credit, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

Excerpt] The New Jobs Tax Credit (NJTC) offers a tax credit of fifty percent of the first $4200 of wages per employee for increases in employment of more than two percent over the previous year. Economic theory predicts that such a tax credit should stimulate employment, decrease hours worked per week, and reduce product prices of the subsidized industries. A time series analysis of the construction, retailing, and wholesaling industries finds strong support for these hypotheses. Our results suggest that the NJTC was responsible for 150,000-670,000 of the more than 1-million increase in employment that occurred between mid-1977 and mid-1978 …

Review: The Limits Of Boundaries: Why City-Regions Cannot Be Self-Governing, By Andrew Sancton, Christopher D. Gore

Christopher D Gore

No abstract provided.

The Mirror Effect, The Law Of Attraction, And "Points Of Attraction" That Can Nurture The Evolution Of Human Consciousness, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

This message has several purposes. First, I want to express my immense joy that Chip Baggett and I are serving as Co-Presidents of AHP since August 16, 2009. In my view, Chip and I are long-time friends, who have a transcendent connection and synergistic energies. My desire and intent is for our co-presidency to mirror the effect(s) of synergistic collaboration as a “point of attraction” that can assist in the evolution of human consciousness across often “perceived personal and societal boundaries” (e.g., race, culture, ethnicity, class, individual and collective belief systems, and dogma). More generally, however, this message is intended …

Valuation Of Carbon Capture And Sequestration Under Greenhouse Gas Regulations: Carbon Capture And Sequestration As An Offsetting Activity, Elizabeth Lokey

Elizabeth Lokey Aldrich

When carbon capture and sequestration is conducted by entities that are not regulated, it could be counted as an offset that is fungible in the market or sold to a voluntary market. This paper addresses the complications that arise in accounting for carbon capture and sequestration as an offset, and methodologies that exist for accounting for CCS in voluntary and compliance markets.

Aportes Conceptuales Y Metodológicos Para La Implementación De Carta Compromiso Con El Ciudadano En El Ámbito De La Provincia De Buenos Aires, Federico Del Giorgio Solfa, Natalia De Sio, Luciana Mercedes Girotto

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

"Aprendizajes Teórico-Metodológicos Emergentes De Una Propuesta Para El Estudio De Políticas Públicas", Cristina B. Diaz

Cristina B. Diaz Mrs.

Considerándolas alternativamente productos, procesos o campos, con intenciones descriptivo-formales o prescriptivo-aplicativas, lecturas pluralistas-racionalistas, neomarxistas, elitistas y neoconservadoras, neocorporatistas y neoinstitucionalistas se enfrentan aún hoy en el intento de dar cuenta de nuevos vínculos entre estados, sociedades y economía: las políticas públicas recuperan -resignificadas- el centro de la escena. Con lo público trascendiendo los límites de lo estatal y una recuperada vocación de la política para ordenar la vida social, perspectivas apropiadas para el tratamiento de los niveles macro, meso y micro se cruzan con enfoques deliberativos, argumentativos y pragmáticos.

En tanto cada respuesta teórica reserva un lugar diferente a los …

Holding The Line: Labor’S Safety & Health Movement, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] Is OSHA finally enforcing the law after years of laxity? Or, as most activists and analysts involved in safety and health believe, do the high-profile penalties constitute an attempt by OSHA to shore up its reputation? A recent independent federal study, the conclusions of which were confirmed by the agency's own consultants, found OSHA in a state of "total paralysis." Another, private, study by the National Safe Workplace Institute showed that OSHA's inspections are inadequate and untimely, that the agency consistently fails to insure that what hazards it does uncover are corrected, and that it often and unjustifiably reduces …

Valuation Of Carbon Valuation Of Carbon Capture And Sequestration Under Greenhouse Gas Regulations, Elizabeth L. Aldrich

Elizabeth Lokey Aldrich

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) could play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the future. The price associated with a metric ton of carbon dioxide reduction could help make CCS a more financially-viable technology. However, the value assigned to CCS depends on the type of greenhouse gas regulation chosen, such as a standard, greenhouse gas tax, or cap-and-trade system, and the details of how the market is implemented. This paper will cover ways in which CCS can be incorporated into greenhouse gas regulations and the implications of each of these methods. It will then cover how CCS …

Job Loss: Causes, Consequences, And Policy Responses, Kristin F. Butcher, Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F Hallock

From 2001 to 2003, 5.3 million workers were displaced. Beyond quantifying the numbers of jobs lost lie important questions about gains and losses from these changes and what policies may affect them. These questions will be addressed at an upcoming Chicago Fed conference.

Assessing The Impact Of Job Loss On Workers And Firms, Kristin F. Butcher, Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F Hallock

Many economists agree that the United States’ openness to competition and technological change raises our living standards, but sometimes results in job losses. This article summarizes “Job Loss: Causes Consequences, and Policy Responses,” a conference which was cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank Chicago and the Joyce Foundation.

Archetypal Energies, The Emergence Of Obama As A Practical Idealist, And Global Transformation, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

During this time of change, AHP and kindred spirits on the edge have important roles to play. We are the keepers and nurturers of a transformative and evolutionary Vision for Consciousness and a more humane world. At issue is what I will call the “psychic politics” for global transformation, nurtured by practical idealism and the Archetypal Energies. In other writings, I have described Archetypal Energies as Higher Vibrational Energies, operating deep within our individual and collective psyches, which have their own transcendent value, purpose, quality, and “voice”, unique to the individual. We experience them as “creative urges” to move us …

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 from hog farms dominates the landscape with 56% of the projects developed and 49% of the certified emission reductions that will be generated within the country by 2012. These biodigesters, however, have experienced many technical difficulties that place their future viability and continued development in question. Because of these challenges, future methane capture in the country may focus around other agro industries or landfills.

Barriers To Clean Development Mechanism Renewable Energy Projects In Mexico, Elizabeth L. Aldrich

Elizabeth Lokey Aldrich

Mexico is not reaching its full potential to capture benefits from clean development mechanism (CDM) projects because of its limited market for independent power producers (IPPs) and the barriers imposed on these entities by the state-run electric utility that controls most of the country’s generation and transmission. This state-run entity has pursued CDM revenues only in isolated cases where international financial assistance was given because it is bound by law to pursue the least-cost generation option for its customers. Recent changes in Mexican legislation that provide incentives for renewable energy development could open the marketplace for these types of projects.

Presidential Staffing And Public Opinion: How Public Opinion Influences Politicization, José Villalobos, Justin Vaughn

José D. Villalobos

Scholars traditionally frame presidential efforts to politicize the federal bureaucracy as the result of divergence between the president's preferences and an agency's output. The authors argue that presidential concern with agency output is dynamic and is in part conditioned by the president's relationship with the public. To assess the relationship between politicization and public opinion, the authors use a data set that combines information on presidential efforts to politicize the Council of Economic Advisers from 1989 to 2004 with that of public attitudes concerning the president's handling of the economy. Their results indicate that public opinion does indeed bear a …

• Rapid Knowledge: ‘Bridging Research And Policy’ In International Development At The Overseas Development Institute, Diane L. Stone

Diane L Stone

Numerous organizations advocate the need to ‘bridge research and policy’. Donors such as philanthropic foundations, national social science funding regimes and international organizations have sought to improve knowledge utilization. Similarly, research consumers such as NGOs and government departments complain of research irrelevance for policy purposes. The concern of this paper is with ‘evidence informed policy’ within the field of international development in which the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a London based think tank, forms the case study. Think tanks are important brokers in processes of ‘bridging research and policy’. Most think tanks are driven by the need to influence immediate …

Public Responses To Health Disparities: How Group Cues Structure Support For Government Intervention, Elizabeth Rigby, Joe Soss, Bridget Booske, Angela Rohan, Stephanie Roberts

Elizabeth Rigby

OBJECTIVE. To examine whether public support for government intervention to address health disparities varies when disparities are framed in terms of different social groups. METHOD. A survey experiment was embedded in a public opinion poll of Wisconsin adults. Respondents were randomly assigned to answer questions about either racial, economic, or education disparities in health. Ordered logit regression analyses examine differences across experimental conditions in support for government intervention to address health disparities. RESULTSs. Health disparities between economic groups received the broadest support for government intervention, while racial disparities in health received the least support for government intervention. These differences were …

Federalism, Partisan Politics, And Shifting Support For State Flexibility: The Case Of The U.S. State Children’S Health Insurance Program, Colleen Grogan, Elizabeth Rigby

Elizabeth Rigby

No abstract provided.

The Managing Of The Presidency: Applying Theory-Driven Empirical Models To The Study Of White House Bureaucratic Performance, Justin S. Vaughn, José D. Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

We argue that scholars of the presidency should begin to apply their rich descriptive understanding of White House organization and personnel to questions of causality. To help guide this effort, we offer a theory-driven empirical model that explains organizational performance. Importing theory from the public management literature, we show how scholars can use the Meier-O'Toole (MO) model to explain performance outcomes and dynamics for key political and policy functions within the institutional presidency. We introduce the MO model and discuss its potential impact on the field of presidency studies.

Obama’S Empty Cupboard: Contending With Administrative Vacancies And The Threat To Neutral Competence, Justin S. Vaughn, José D. Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

In this essay, we focus on the public administration challenge concerning the rising number of politically motivated administrative vacancies resulting from George W. Bush's tenure in office with which President Barack Obama must now contend. We argue that the hyper-politicization of personnel decision-making during the presidency of George W. Bush left many parts of the federal bureaucracy understaffed, yet more densely populated by staffers chosen more for ideological and political congruence than administrative competence. For President Obama to achieve key aspects of his policy agenda, he must first attend to fixing these staffing problems and then to reforming the personnel …

Evaluating The Extent And Nature Of 'Envelope Wages' In The European Union: A Geographical Analysis, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

To evaluate the spatialities of the illegal wage practice where employers pay their declared employees both an official declared wage and an undeclared ‘envelope’ wage so as to avoid tax liabilities, a 2007 survey conducted in 27 European Union (EU) member states is reported. The finding is that 5% of employees received envelope wages which amount on average to some two-fifths of their wage packet. Revealing how, although heavily concentrated in a small group of East-Central European nations, this wage practice is nonetheless ubiquitous, the paper concludes by discussing how this practice might be tackled.

Strategic Foresight: Anticipation And Capacity To Act, Beat Habegger

Beat Habegger

No abstract provided.

Risiko- Und Verwundbarkeitsanalyse In Der Bundespolitik: Erfahrungen Und Perspektiven, Beat Habegger, Sergio Bonin

Beat Habegger

No abstract provided.

Identifikation Von Risiken (Factsheet), Beat Habegger

Beat Habegger

No abstract provided.

Horizon Scanning In Government: Concept, Country Experiences, And Models For Switzerland, Beat Habegger

Beat Habegger

No abstract provided.

Risk Governance Deficits: An Analysis And Illustration Of The Most Common Deficits In Risk Governance, Beat Habegger, John D. Graham, Belinda Cleeland, Marie-Valentine Florin

Beat Habegger

No abstract provided.

Measures To Tackle Undeclared Work In 27 European Countries, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Review of range and type of policy measures used for tackling undeclared work in 27 European Union member states and an evaluation fo their transferability to other nations, sectors and/or occupations