Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Enactment Of Quality Assurance Policies In Ecuadorian Higher Education: A Case Study In The Public Universities In The Province Of Manabí, Diego R. Sornoza Parrales

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigates how the administrators in the research and quality assurance offices in the regional universities in Ecuador enact the national research quality assurance policy. The massification and diversification of higher education and the internationalization, as well as globalization of higher education institutions create an increasingly competitive environment. Given this competition, resources are scarce, resulting in more frequent and more aggressive budgetary constraints. Government and national funding agencies are including the notion of “quality” in their policies to measure the performance and efficiency of universities and determine budget allocation, demanding universities to “prove their value” to remain operational. In …

Analyses Of Prosecutorial Power And Discretion In Mississippi: Evaluating Proposals To Address Misconduct And Abuse, Lucy Pruitt

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to create a policy proposal in order to address incidences of prosecutorial misconduct and abuse of discretion in the Mississippi criminal justice system. To do so, the author has summarized and analyzed seven criminal cases in which defendants have become victims of prosecutorial misconduct in order to shed light on the lack of prosecutorial accountability in the state’s criminal justice system. In an attempt to solve the problem, the author has developed a novel grading rubric in order to objectively and systematically analyze and evaluate previously proposed policy recommendations by legal experts and justice organizations. The successes …

Promoting Anti-Corruption, Transparency And Accountability To Achieve Universal Health Coverage, Theadora Koller, David Clarke, Taryn Vian

Nursing and Health Professions Faculty Research and Publications

Anti-corruption, transparency and accountability measures are often missing from efforts to promote universal health coverage. Yet, if unchecked, corruption represents a significant drain on domestic health resource and a major barrier to achieving universal health coverage and the sustainable development goals. The World Health Organization is promoting a coordinated public health approach to anti-corruption, transparency and accountability, working with global partners to create new internal control and assurance models, increase monitoring and evaluation; develop capacity for multiple stakeholders to address corruption; and strengthen normative guidance to integrate anti-corruption, transparency and accountability into WHO’s work on health systems strengthening. The articles …

What Congress's Repeal Efforts Can Teach Us About Regulatory Reform, Cary Coglianese, Gabriel Scheffler

All Faculty Scholarship

Major legislative actions during the early part of the 115th Congress have undermined the central argument for regulatory reform measures such as the REINS Act, a bill that would require congressional approval of all new major regulations. Proponents of the REINS Act argue that it would make the federal regulatory system more democratic by shifting responsibility for regulatory decisions away from unelected bureaucrats and toward the people’s representatives in Congress. But separate legislative actions in the opening of the 115th Congress only call this argument into question. Congress’s most significant initiatives during this period — its derailed attempts to repeal …

San Francisco's Response To Sexual Assault: Pathways To Creating A Survivor-Centered Criminal Justice System, Bianca Rosen

Master's Projects and Capstones

This research examines the process when adult sexual assault survivors in San Francisco decide to pursue legal justice and how survivors experience the local criminal justice system. My analysis exposes the mistreatment of survivors who participate with local law enforcement and recommends survivor-centered policies that could support the wellbeing of survivors pressing charges. The purpose of this research is to encourage law enforcement practices that prioritize survivors’ self-determination and welfare.

The Mess At Morgan: Risk, Incentives And Shareholder Empowerment, Jill E. Fisch

All Faculty Scholarship

The financial crisis of 2008 focused increasing attention on corporate America and, in particular, the risk-taking behavior of large financial institutions. A growing appreciation of the “public” nature of the corporation resulted in a substantial number of high profile enforcement actions. In addition, demands for greater accountability led policymakers to attempt to harness the corporation’s internal decision-making structure, in the name of improved corporate governance, to further the interest of non-shareholder stakeholders. Dodd-Frank’s advisory vote on executive compensation is an example.

This essay argues that the effort to employ shareholders as agents of public values and, thereby, to inculcate corporate …

Health, Citizenship, And Human Rights Advocacy Initiative: Improving Access To Health Services In Mexico, Almudena Ocejo, International Budget Partnership

International Budget Partnership

When it comes to health care in Mexico, “universal” has never meant equal, particularly when it came to the access to adequate care for the country’s 52 million uninsured. Civil society organization Fundar — a research organization with a background in budgetary analysis — developed a successful advocacy strategy on health policy to change this.

The full version and short summary of this case study are available in English.

LINK: http://internationalbudget.org/publications/health-citizenship-and-human-rights-advocacy-initiative-improving-access-to-health-services-in-mexico/

When Opportunity Beckons: The Impact Of The Public Service Accountability Monitor’S Work On Improving Health Budgets In South Africa, Alta Fölscher, John Kruger, International Budget Partnership

International Budget Partnership

The Eastern Cape Province of South Africa struggles with high poverty, poor public infrastructure, and dysfunctional administrative systems. One result is that the Eastern Cape has the worst health outcomes in the country. This case study illustrates how a South African civil society organization has used its budgetary analysis to advocate for improvements in health service delivery.

The full version and short summary of this case study are available in English.

LINK: http://internationalbudget.org/publications/when-opportunity-beckons-the-impact-of-the-public-service-accountability-monitors-work-on-improving-health-budgets-in-south-africa/

The Art Of Getting In The Way: Five Years Of The Bndes Platform, Peter Spink, International Budget Partnership

International Budget Partnership

When a coalition of civil society organizations began to pry into the finances of Brazil’s powerful national development bank, it challenged the status quo and advanced the call for a more transparent, balanced, and democratic economic policy.

The short summary and full version of this case study are available in English. The short summary case study is available in French and Spanish.

LINK: http://internationalbudget.org/publications/the-art-of-getting-in-the-way-five-years-of-the-bndes-platform-2/

Raising The Stakes: The Impact Of Hakie Limu’S Advocacy Work On Education Policy And Budget In Tanzania, Ruth Carlitz, Rosie Mcgee, International Budget Partnership

International Budget Partnership

Tanzania has invested heavily in ensuring that all children have access to education. Civil society group HakiElimu stepped in to take the political commitment beyond enrollment and graduation targets to meaningful policy decisions that lead to higher quality schooling. This case study examines the issues, campaign, and impact.

The full version of this case study are available in English. The short summary case study is available in English, French, and Spanish.

LINK: http://internationalbudget.org/publications/raising-the-stakes-the-impact-of-hakielimus-advocacy-work-on-education-policy-and-budget-in-tanzania/

Foreign Assistance And Fiscal Transparency: The Impact Of The Open Budget Initiative On Donor Policies And Practices, Linnea Mills, International Budget Partnership

International Budget Partnership

This paper presents research that sought to document how, when, and why three donor agencies — the U.S. Department of State, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) — have adopted the Open Budget Index in language and practice; assesses the contributions of the Open Budget Initiative and its partners to achieving these apparent advocacy successes; and analyzes other factors that may have influenced the decision of these three donors to use the language and methodology advocated by the Open Budget Initiative. In conclusion, the analysis of the three donor case studies covered in …

South African Legal Resources Centre Successfully Advocates For Adequate Education Facilities, Alison Hickey Tshangana, International Budget Partnership

International Budget Partnership

The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) is a South African nonprofit human rights organisation that conducts public interest litigation. In response to the South African government’s delays to remove mud schools in the Eastern Cape Province, LRC took the government to court in August 2010. As a result of the mounting legal pressures, in January 2011 the Eastern Cape Department of Education signed an agreement with LRC. According to the agreement, the national government would introduce a new three-year grant to address infrastructure backlogs, of which Eastern Cape would receive 78 percent of the total. In the interim, the provincial education …

Budget Transparency In Afghanistan: A Pathway To Building Public Trust In The State, Nematullah Bizhan

International Budget Partnership

This case study discusses major improvements in government budget transparency and public engagement in Afghanistan, presenting an analysis of the roles of the following actors in the trend toward more open budgeting: 1) the International Budget Partnership, foreign donors, civil society organizations, and the media; 2) the government; and 3) the legislature. This paper argues that by increasing its OBI score from 8 in 2008 to 21 in 2010, Afghanistan has made important progress, though it still remains below average. But donors, CSOs, and to some extent the media are putting increasing pressure on the government to improve its Public …

The Impact Of The International Budget Partnership's Open Budget Survey And Its Partner Institution's Advocacy On Budget Transparency In Honduras, Hugo Noe Pino, International Budget Partnership

International Budget Partnership

This case study looks at how the preparation and publication of the Open Budget Survey 2010 in Honduras increased awareness of Honduras’ budget transparency problems. The increased attention given to these issues brought together local civil society organizations, the International Budget Partnership, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the government of Honduras to make progress on budget transparency. Also, the IBP’s technical assistance to the government of Honduras played an important role in the recent publication of budget documents, which combined with a strong government will have provided the basis for public finance management reforms. Although the main incentive for the …

Show Me The Money: Budget Advocacy In Indonesia, International Budget Partnership

International Budget Partnership

In "Show Me the Money: Budget Advocacy in Indonesia," authors from five civil society organizations – IDEA, the Inisiatif Association, Lakpesdam NU, the Centre for Information and Regional Studies (PATTIRO), and the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) – present five case studies on their budget work to fight against corruption and improve the allocation of government resources, and five case studies from smaller organizations based in various local districts in the country.

In addition, check out the related two-page summaries that explore the impact of civil society budget work in Indonesia to improve policies and outcomes in school funding, …

The History Of Evaluation Through Regulatory Impact Analysis: A Path From Accounting To Accountability, Daniele Capone, Dan Williams

Publications and Research

Evaluation of public policy is an important element of intervention by government in the economy and society. This paper analyzes the path of evaluation in the U.S. system through development in related scientific fields and through the use, by different administrations, of Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA). The history of evaluation shows that over time there has been a bipartisan acknowledgement of the importance of these tools and an interesting change in the approach and use of them. At the beginning, RIA and evaluation were conceived as control and accounting instruments with a strong use of economic analysis, but afterwards, they …

Quality Of Education Reforms: The Case Of Hakielimu’S Campaign Of 2005-2007, International Budget Partnership

International Budget Partnership

HakiElimu is a civil society organization in Tanzania that works to ensure that all the country’s children receive high-quality basic education. When developing its Programme Strategy for 2004-2007, HakiElimu noted improvements in enrollment levels, but identified a lack of attention to education quality. This case study describes the campaign that led to improvements in Tanzania’s schools.

A short summary and one page summary of this case study are available in English. Summaries are also available in Spanish, French, Arabic, and Chinese.

LINK: http://internationalbudget.org/publications/quality-of-education-reforms-the-case-of-hakielimus-campaign-of-2005-2007/

Does The Voluntary Standards For Excellence Program Improve Reporting Qualities & Financial Ratios Of Nonprofit Organizations?, Harmony Little

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Problem Statement

The issue of accountability in the nonprofit sector has increased over the past few years, and along with it, questions about the adequacy of information in the 990 forms filed annually by nonprofits to the IRS. The intent of the 990 form is to provide the public with necessary information to evaluate the performance of a nonprofit; however, a number of studies show that there are significant errors on the 990 returns. At the same time, there has been a rise in nonprofit watchdog groups who use the information available on the 990 forms to calculate nonprofits’ financial …

Consensus Groups And Grassroots Democracy: Maybe Those Who Say It Cannot Be Done Should Get Out Of The Way Of Those Doing It, Mary Margaret Chapman

Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits (October 11-13)

10 pages.

Contains 2 pages of references.

Thinking The Unthinkable: States As Public Land Managers, Sally K. Fairfax

Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits (October 11-13)

27 pages.

Contains references.