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2011

Articles 31 - 54 of 54

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Shining Bright: Growing Solar Jobs In Iowa, David Osterberg Feb 2011

Shining Bright: Growing Solar Jobs In Iowa, David Osterberg

David Osterberg

Iowa could produce economic activity and thousands of jobs by changing policy to encourage solar power.

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With Reckless Abandon: Haneef And Ul-Haque In Australia's 'War On Terror', Mark Rix Feb 2011

With Reckless Abandon: Haneef And Ul-Haque In Australia's 'War On Terror', Mark Rix

Mark Rix

This brief paper considers the political and social implications of the manner in which Australia has prosecuted the so-called ‘war on terror’. It does this by investigating relevant aspects of Australia’s anti-terrorism legislation and the performance of Australian security and law enforcement agencies, namely, the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Focusing on the Haneef and Ul-Haque cases, the paper will consider how the political climate created by the former Federal Government’s legislative approach to the war on terror has influenced the performance of these organisations. By focusing on these two cases, the paper …

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Library Sector Leadership: Bridging Theory And Practice, Melanie Mills, Charlotte Innerd Feb 2011

Library Sector Leadership: Bridging Theory And Practice, Melanie Mills, Charlotte Innerd

Melanie Mills

Explore the issue of leadership in libraries with one current student and one graduate of The University of Victoria's Professional Graduate Certificate in Library Sector Leadership. Looking specifically at Kouzes and Posner's 'Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders' and Quinn et al.'s 'Competing Values Framework', we hope to share our own discoveries and insights and add to the important discussion of leadership in Libraries.

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Multiple Team Membership: A Theoretical Model Of Its Effects On Productivity And Learning For Individuals And Teams, Michael Boyer O'Leary, Mark Mortensen, Anita Woolley Jan 2011

Multiple Team Membership: A Theoretical Model Of Its Effects On Productivity And Learning For Individuals And Teams, Michael Boyer O'Leary, Mark Mortensen, Anita Woolley

Anita Williams Woolley

Organizations use multiple team membership to enhance individual and team productivity and learning, but this structure creates competing pressures on attention and information, which make it difficult to increase both productivity and learning. Our model describes how the number and variety of multiple team memberships drive different mechanisms, yielding distinct effects. We show how carefully balancing the number and variety can enhance both productivity and learning

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Pay-For-Performance Reform And Organizational Discrimination: An Exploratory Analysis Of The United States Federal Agencies, Andrew Ewoh, Stephen Stonnenfeldt-Goddard Dec 2010

Pay-For-Performance Reform And Organizational Discrimination: An Exploratory Analysis Of The United States Federal Agencies, Andrew Ewoh, Stephen Stonnenfeldt-Goddard

Andrew I.E. Ewoh

The federal General Schedule system, established under the Classification Act of 1949, has received increasing criticism within the past decade. Scholars and practitioners alike have decried it as being outdated, inefficient, and restrictive in allowing government to acquire the critical talent it needs to administer. With these challenges in mind, alternatives for replacing the General Schedule system have been offered. One of the most popular, prominent, and promising paths toward reform is the pay-for-performance approach. Using EEOC data published as a requirement of the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation (NO FEAR) Act of 2002, this article explores the …

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Copyright Backlash, Ben Depoorter Dec 2010

Copyright Backlash, Ben Depoorter

Ben Depoorter

In the past decade the entertainment industry has waged a legally very successful campaign against online copyright infringements. In a series of high profile decisions, content industries persuaded courts to accept expansive interpretations of contributory enforcement, to create novel doctrines of copyright infringement, and to apply broad interpretations of statutory damage provisions. Many private file-sharers, technology companies, university administrators and Internet service providers have felt the reach of this litigation effort. Yet a significant empirical anomaly exists: even as the copyright industry has ramped up the level of deterrence, online copyright infringements continue unabated. Why has the legal battle against …

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Political Decision-Making And The Local Provision Of Public Goods: The Case Of Municipal Climate Protection, Rachel Krause Dec 2010

Political Decision-Making And The Local Provision Of Public Goods: The Case Of Municipal Climate Protection, Rachel Krause

Rachel M. Krause

The municipal political decision-making dynamic has typically been studied in regard to the provision of locally public goods and services whose benefits, while diffuse, are tied to a particular geography. This research extends current knowledge by empirically examining the local production of a globally public good: climate protection. It utilizes an original nation-wide dataset on the greenhouse gas-reducing activities that have been implemented by city governments in the United States. This data enables the development of a more comprehensive measure of local climate protection than has been used in previous quantitative research. Several theories of local political decision-making are tested …

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Searching For Contracting Patterns Over Time: Do Prime Contractor And Subcontractor Relations Follow Similar Patterns For Professional Services Provision?, Branco Ponomariov, Gordon Kingsley, Craig Boardman Dec 2010

Searching For Contracting Patterns Over Time: Do Prime Contractor And Subcontractor Relations Follow Similar Patterns For Professional Services Provision?, Branco Ponomariov, Gordon Kingsley, Craig Boardman

Craig Boardman

This paper compares over a 12-year period (1) patterns of contracting between a state transportation agency and its prime contractors providing engineering design services with (2) patterns between these prime contractors and their subcontractors. We find evidence of different contracting patterns at each level that emerge over time and coexist in the same contracting context. While patterns at the agency–prime level are characterized by repeated contracts, patterns at the prime–sub level indicate fewer repeats and more contractor turnover. Implications for outsourcing practice and theory are discussed.

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Who's To Blame When A Business Fails? How Journalistic Death Metaphors Influence Responsibility Attributions, Ann Williams Dec 2010

Who's To Blame When A Business Fails? How Journalistic Death Metaphors Influence Responsibility Attributions, Ann Williams

Ann E Williams

This study unites a textual analysis and an experimental audience study to document the use of death metaphor in business news and to assess the impact that death metaphor has on audiences' attributions of responsibility for corporate failure. The findings show that death metaphors are frequently used in financial press coverage and that the use of death metaphor influences audience members' responsibility attributions by intensifying overall levels of blame, while simultaneously deflecting blame away from the executives responsible for managing the firm and diffusing it to other factors, including the state of the economy, the government, and individual consumers.

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Organizational Confidence: An Empirical Assessment Of Highly Positive Public Managers, Mary Feeney, Craig Boardman Dec 2010

Organizational Confidence: An Empirical Assessment Of Highly Positive Public Managers, Mary Feeney, Craig Boardman

Craig Boardman

There is a great deal of research investigating public servants' perceptions of organizational problems (e.g., red tape, bureaucratic control); however, there is little research investigating public servants who have highly positive perceptions of their organizations. This article assesses perceptions of state employees to investigate individual- and organizational-level correlates with highly positive government workers, which we define as workers reporting high levels of pride in the organization for which they work, and who believe that the organization provides high-quality public services and operates by highly ethical standards. Using data from the National Administrative Studies Project III, we draw from formal theories …

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Protecting Civilians In La Cote D’Ivoire: Addressing Unanswered Questions, Emmanuel Aning, Samuel Atuobi, Naila Salihu Dec 2010

Protecting Civilians In La Cote D’Ivoire: Addressing Unanswered Questions, Emmanuel Aning, Samuel Atuobi, Naila Salihu

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This policy brief explores the concept of civilian protection and how it applies to the ongoing Ivorian crisis, and conflict situations broadly. Specifically, it discusses the challenges of promoting civilian protection in La Cote d’Ivoire and suggests ways of dealing with it. We argue that there is the need for the international community to pay particular attention to the issue of civilian protection in order to reduce civilian casualties while the conflict lasts.

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Demography, Environment And Conflict In West Africa, Emmanuel Aning, Andrews Atta-Asamoah Dec 2010

Demography, Environment And Conflict In West Africa, Emmanuel Aning, Andrews Atta-Asamoah

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

In this paper, we argue that West Africa’s conflict experiences since 1990 have never been devoid of the concurrent influence of the youth bulge problematic and the effects of the economic downturns of countries in the sub-region. These factors can therefore not be relegated to the background in present and future attempts to achieve peace. We also argue that the outbreak of conflicts has had grave ramifications on the region’s environmental security. This paper starts with a section that analyses the nexus between demography and conflict from which evidence is deduced to explain the youth bulge phenomenon and supporting destabilising …

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The U.S. Practice Of Collateral Damage Estimation And Mitigation, Greg Mcneal Dec 2010

The U.S. Practice Of Collateral Damage Estimation And Mitigation, Greg Mcneal

Greg McNeal

This paper explains how the U.S. military estimates and mitigates the impact of conventional weapons on collateral persons and objects in most military operations involving air-to-surface weapons and artillery. It is the descriptive part of a larger work discussing the normative implications of U.S. targeting practices. In recent years, an entire body of academic literature and policy commentary has been based on an incomplete understanding of how the U.S. conducts military operations. The literature is incomplete because U.S. practices are shrouded in secrecy and largely inaccessible. As a result commentators have lacked a descriptive foundation to analyze and critique U.S. …

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Promoting Peace And Stability In La Côte D’Ivoire: Negotiating The Cost Of International Inaction And The Need For Decisive Action, Emmanuel Aning, Samuel Atuobi Dec 2010

Promoting Peace And Stability In La Côte D’Ivoire: Negotiating The Cost Of International Inaction And The Need For Decisive Action, Emmanuel Aning, Samuel Atuobi

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

In this second policy brief on the situation in La Côte d’Ivoire a calling for enforcement action led by the United Nations Operations in La Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) to stop the fighting, protect civilians and restore stability to the troubled country. It is argued that given the extent to which the situation has degenerated, it is only a UN force with a strong enforcement mandate, action and capability that can save the situation and protect hapless civilians who are at the mercy of the warring factions. It is, however, important to note that our main argument in the paper is …

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Military Challenges And Threats In West Africa, Emmanuel Aning, Andrews Atta-Asamoah Dec 2010

Military Challenges And Threats In West Africa, Emmanuel Aning, Andrews Atta-Asamoah

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

Much of the violent and protracted conflicts characteristic of sub-Saharan Africa in the post-Cold War years occurred in West Africa,1 particularly in countries of the Mano River Union (MRU).2 Apart from the fourteen years of intermittent conflict in Liberia, the West African sub-region also witnessed civil war in Sierra Leone; instabilities in Guinea-Bissau, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and protracted rebellions in the Southern Cassamance Province of Senegal; resource-related conflicts in Nigeria, ethnic conflicts among the Nanumba and Konkomba in northern Ghana; and political instability in Togo.

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A Preliminary Assessment Of The Potential For 'Team Science' In Doe Energy Innovation Hubs And Energy Frontier Research Centers, Craig Boardman, Branco Ponomariov Dec 2010

A Preliminary Assessment Of The Potential For 'Team Science' In Doe Energy Innovation Hubs And Energy Frontier Research Centers, Craig Boardman, Branco Ponomariov

Craig Boardman

President Obama has called for the development of new energy technologies to address our national energy needs and restore US economic competitiveness. In response, the Department of Energy has established new R&D modalities for energy research and development designed to facilitate collaboration across disciplinary, institutional, and sectoral boundaries. In this research note, we provide a preliminary assessment of the potential for essential mechanisms for coordinated problem solving among diverse actors within two new modalities at the DOE: Energy Innovation Hubs and Energy Frontier Research Centers.

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The Status Quo Bias And Counterterrorism Detention, Greg Mcneal Dec 2010

The Status Quo Bias And Counterterrorism Detention, Greg Mcneal

Greg McNeal

Counterterrorism detention policy in the United States is a mess. Commentators on both sides of the political spectrum have decried the U.S. approach. Those on the left have criticized the arbitrary and unfair nature of U.S. policy; they argue that detention policy has unfairly trampled on the rights of individuals, producing results that are inconsistent and, perhaps, counterproductive, especially in the eyes of U.S. allies and the Muslim world. Others have approached this question from a security perspective, decrying the granting of privileges to those who fail to follow the rules of civilized nations yet then demand the protection of …

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The Challenge Of The Côte D’Ivoire Crisis For West Africa: Exploring Options For A Negotiated Settlement, Emmanuel Aning, Samuel Atuobi Dec 2010

The Challenge Of The Côte D’Ivoire Crisis For West Africa: Exploring Options For A Negotiated Settlement, Emmanuel Aning, Samuel Atuobi

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This paper discusses the political deadlock in La Côte d’Ivoire, cautions against the use of force, and calls on the international community to explore options for negotiated settlement. It argues that the use of force in the Ivorian situation will be a zero sum game in which the civilian populations of the country will suffer. On the contrary, a negotiated settlement presents the best opportunity for a win win situation in which the Ivorian population can be protected

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Liberia: A Briefing Paper On The Trc Report, Emmanuel Aning, Thomas Jaye Dec 2010

Liberia: A Briefing Paper On The Trc Report, Emmanuel Aning, Thomas Jaye

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

The main purpose of this policy brief is to critically examine, and provide a capsule analysis and nuanced understanding of the context, mandate, reactions and key issues emerging out of the TRC report and recommendations. Subsequently, the essay puts forward some recommendations for immediate actions by the Government and people of Liberia as well as the broader international community of state and non-state actors in order to facilitate dialogue and informed social debates around the issues emerging out of the report.

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Technology & Torts: A Theory Of Memory Costs, Nondurable Precautions And Interference Effects, Ben Depoorter Dec 2010

Technology & Torts: A Theory Of Memory Costs, Nondurable Precautions And Interference Effects, Ben Depoorter

Ben Depoorter

This Article examines the influence of nondurable precaution technologies on the expansion of tort awards. We provide four contributions to the literature. First, we present a general, formal model on durable and non-durable precaution technology that focuses on memory costs. Second, because liability exposure creates interference, we argue that tort law perpetuates the expansion of awards. Third, because plaintiffs do not consider the social costs of interference effects, private litigation induces socially excessive suits. Fourth, while new harm-reducing technologies likely increase accident rates, such technologies also raise the ratio of trial costs to harm, leaving undetermined the overall effect of …

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Breaking Up A Monolithic State: Reflections Of Unarmed Ghanaian Military Observers In Kosovo And Bosnia, Fiifi Ed-Afful, Evelyn Avoxe, Emmanuel Aning Dec 2010

Breaking Up A Monolithic State: Reflections Of Unarmed Ghanaian Military Observers In Kosovo And Bosnia, Fiifi Ed-Afful, Evelyn Avoxe, Emmanuel Aning

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

What this paper seeks to do is to analyze the personal experiences and contributions of Ghanaian military observers under UNPROFOR as an alternative to general media and official UN reports. It gives important insights into the role of military observers, with a view to drawing out important lessons for filling the knowledge gaps with respect to peace building and state building. The analysis is based on multiple faceto-face narratives drawn from interviews with four Ghanaian military officers posted as military observers to the Bosnian conflict between 1993 and 1995.

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Neighborhood, City, Or Region: Deconstructing Scale In Planning Frames, Kate Lowe Dec 2010

Neighborhood, City, Or Region: Deconstructing Scale In Planning Frames, Kate Lowe

Kate Lowe, PhD

No abstract provided.

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Public Participation In Regulatory Decision-Making: Cases From Regulations.Gov, Thomas Bryer Dec 2010

Public Participation In Regulatory Decision-Making: Cases From Regulations.Gov, Thomas Bryer

Thomas A Bryer

Regulations.gov is an award winning government website that has democratized the rulemaking process by making it easier for citizens to search, read, and comment on proposed rules advanced by federal agencies. Submitted comments from three cases are analyzed; cases come from the Department of Health and Human Services, Environmental Protection Agency, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The issues in each are classified as low salience/high complexity, high salience/high complexity, and high salience/low complexity, respectively. Quality of comments submitted is analyzed across cases. It is suggested in conclusion that if costs are not accepted to better prepare citizens to be …

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Linking Students With Community In Collaborative Governance: A Report On A Service Learning Class, Thomas A. Bryer Dec 2010

Linking Students With Community In Collaborative Governance: A Report On A Service Learning Class, Thomas A. Bryer

Thomas A Bryer

Collaborative governance is increasingly becoming a topic for scholarly research, practitioner skill development, and a component of graduate programs in public administration. This article documents a service learning project in a graduate level Masters in Public Administration class on cross-sector governance. The article begins with a brief review of literature on university-community relations and, specifically, the civic mission of institutions of higher education and the role of service learning in public administration programs. The teaching case is then introduced, with the full context and detail explained. Lessons are offered for replicating this kind of class. An analysis of the success …

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