Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A General Model Of Good Executive Leadership In Policy Contexts, Thad Williamson

Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies

This commentary stipulates a general model of policy leadership, encompassing decision-making, implementation, and evaluation. The model stresses attaining clarity about the nature of the issue being addressed, the values at stake, and the possible outcomes of alternative courses of action. While focused on the context of elected executives in municipal government, the stipulated model has broader applicability to other contexts. The article contends that following the model may both improve the effectiveness of political leaders and help build consensus (or compromise) among distinct political actors.

Mill's Harm Principle: A Study In The Application Of 'On Liberty', Sandra J. Peart

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

English philosopher and political economist John Stuart Mill argued that people learn by choosing: this is how they become creative and productive individuals. For this reason, and because he felt that individuals are typically the most capable people to make their own choices, Mill was highly skeptical of restrictions on choice placed by a third party, such as the state.

Mill famously separated actions into two categories: (1) self-regarding actions that do not affect others; and (2) other-regarding actions that do affect, and may harm, others. In the former category he placed thought and discussion, tastes and pursuits, and association, …

Care Or Compliance? An Examination Of Sexual Violence And Institutional Responses At Two Crisis Points, Sophia Hartman

Honors Theses

Understanding the existence of sexual violence requires an investigation of the actions and contexts that either permit or prevent this form of violence. There exists a desire to draw a strict line between adolescence and adulthood, especially in relationship to sexual engagement, and in particular its implications for sexual violence. Utilizing Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Human Development and the concept of sexual citizenship—one’s right to sexual self-determination as well as the equivalent right of others—this thesis evaluates the perpetuation of sexual violence within the contexts of two crisis points. First, the moral panic during the Progressive Era surrounding female …

Suggestions For Early Career Community-Engaged Scholars, Sylvia Gale, Patricia Herrera, Maia K. Linask, Nicole Maurantonio, Derek Miller, Lynn Pelco

Other Publications

This document was written specifically, though not exclusively, for early career faculty members doing (or would like to be doing) faculty work in collaboration with off-campus community partners. The document may also be helpful to faculty members at other career stages who are beginning to undertake community-engaged work and administrators seeking to support their faculty. This is the information we wish we had at the start of our careers. We, the five co-authors of this paper, are tenured community-engaged faculty members and seasoned higher education administrators specializing in civic and community-engaged academic practices. Based on our literature review and collective …

The Effect Of Rhetoric On Progressive Health Care Reform Policies’ Public Perception, Megan Geher

Honors Theses

Health care is one of the most contentious issues in United States politics today, and there are a variety of reform plans on the table. In order for these reform plans to be politically feasible, it is fundamental that the rhetorical framing strategies utilized are done so with caution. In this paper, I seek to understand to what extent rhetorical framing plays a role in how Americans perceive progressive health care reform plans. While there are many factors that go into public support of policies, rhetoric is one factor that cannot be ignored, as it has shown to have significant …

Consensus, Convergence, And Covid-19: The Ethical Role Of Religious Reasons In Leaders’ Response To Covid-19, Marilie Coetsee

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Focusing on current efforts to persuade the public to comply with COVID-19 best practices, this essay examines what role appeals to religious reasons should (or should not) play in leaders’ attempts to secure followers’ acceptance of group policies in contexts of religious and moral pluralism. While appeals to followers’ religious commitments can be helpful in promoting desirable public health outcomes, they also raise moral concerns when made in the contexts of secular institutions with religiously diverse participants. In these contexts, leaders who appeal to religious reasons as bases of justification for imposing COVID policies may seem to fail to show …

Unpacking The Census, Sarah Murtaugh, Kyle Redican

Other Publications

Unpacking the Census, a partnership between the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities and the University of Richmond’s Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, School of Professional & Continuing Studies, and Spatial Analysis Lab, examines structural inequality through census research. Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), 2016-2020, Five-Year Estimates.

Barriers And Facilitators Of Nonprofit Community Involvement, Claire Galvin

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Community-facing organizations have recently been critiqued for catering to donors instead of prioritizing community involvement. This lack of community engagement can lead to organizations not being as effective at the work they aim to do within these communities. Studies also show that organizations that have a more equal distribution of power engage more with their communities. This research project investigated how power distribution in Richmond- area nonprofits impacted the way that their communities were involved within their organizations. Findings from this study suggest that nonprofit fundraisers are more invested in creating community representation within their organization rather than cultivating a …

Organizational Networking, Leadership, And Community Engagement: A Case Study Of The Revitalization Of An Impaired Watershed In Richmond, Virginia, Julia L. Roller

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Green infrastructure is a necessary component of urban environments designed to mitigate climate instability and provide healthier living environments for urban residents. Discrimination and socio-economic status are some of the determining factors in the provision of green infrastructure, availability of green spaces, and outdoor programming available in urban communities. This paper describes an exploratory case study of the partnerships between municipal and nonprofit organizations involved in the revitalization of an impaired watershed in Richmond, Virginia. Preliminary findings suggest networking between agencies and nonprofits with strong mission alignment can increase organizational capacity by sharing specialized training and resources. Success may also …

Nonprofits And Government Agencies Addressing The Needs Of Mental Health Community, Wyatt Ulrich

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Nonprofit organizations have been utilizing cross-sector collaboration to address problems that are not able to be solved on their own. A partner to make said collaboration can be with any organization, business, or volunteer who has the same goals as the nonprofit organization. Mental health nonprofit organizations specifically need more partners due to how little the world knows about mental health and mental illnesses. The government is one partner many mental health organizations aim to collaborate with. Government contracts have been known to help with the many challenges nonprofit organizations face like funding and services. Previous research has suggested this …

Embodying Equity: Change Management Strategies For Addressing Racial Equity In Environmental Nonprofits, Brittany Jezouit

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Recent social movements and the urgency of the climate crisis have heightened awareness of the exclusion of people of color within the environmental movement. While many environmental nonprofits are working to address racial equity within their organizations, they are often not well-equipped with the tools, tactics, and change management strategies to successfully execute their goals. Using data from case studies via qualitative interviews with local Richmond, VA environmental nonprofit leaders, this study aims to combine insights from nonprofit leaders doing racial equity work with key theories of change from the ProSci ADKAR model, John Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change, …

The Conspiracy Theory Defense In Response To Whistleblower Accusations: Turning A Hero Into A Villain, James K. Beggan

Heroism Science

Whistleblowers can be viewed as heroic actors who reveal institutional misdeeds. In contrast, conspiracy theorists are seen as members of a marginalized element perpetuating misinformation. Despite this apparent difference, the present analysis focuses on how similarities between the two constructs can allow a target to discredit a whistleblower accusation by countering that the whistleblower is operating as part of a conspiracy. More generally, this paper considers how the difficulty inherent in disproving conspiracy theory claims facilitates their utility as a defense. The case study of President Donald Trump’s responses to whistleblower accusations are considered to illustrate the arguments.

Nonprofits And Government Agencies Addressing The Needs Of Mental Health Community, Wyatt Ulrich

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Nonprofit organizations have been utilizing cross-sector collaboration to address problems that are not able to be solved on their own. A partner to make said collaboration can be with any organization, business, or volunteer who has the same goals as the nonprofit organization. Mental health nonprofit organizations specifically need more partners due to how little the world knows about mental health and mental illnesses. The government is one partner many mental health organizations aim to collaborate with. Government contracts have been known to help with the many challenges nonprofit organizations face like funding and services. Previous research has suggested this …

[Introduction To] Race, Removal, And The Right To Remain : Migration And The Making Of The United States / Samantha Seeley., Samantha Seeley

Bookshelf

This work explores the conflicts over migration at the center of the social, political, intellectual, and physical landscape of the early United States. Examining the voluntary and forced migrations of Indigenous, African American, and Anglo Americans in the decades immediately following the Revolution, Samantha Seeley argues that the United States took shape as a white republic through contentious negotiations over who could move and where, who could remain and how. Removal was not sweeping, top-down federal legislation. Instead, it was a battle fought on multiple fronts. It encompassed tribal leaders' attempts to expel white settlers from Native lands and African …

Equity In Program Evaluation: Equity As A Measure In Program Evaluation, Marco S. Thomas

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Changes to equity and inclusion mean, not only including, but also valuing, and sharing power with, community members and stakeholders of various backgrounds. In addition to race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender identity, physical and mental abilities, as well as where they intersect, should be represented throughout the entire evaluation process. Countless surveys make assumptions about communities without knowing the culture of the community. This study explores where equity does and does not exist, in the process of creating and conducting the evaluations that are used to measure the successful execution of nonprofit programs. The inclusion of program participants and …

Book Review: No Greater Love: How My Family Survived The Genocide In Rwanda, Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann

Heroism Science

Tharcisse Seminega is an ethnic Tutsi who survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide, along with his wife and all five of his children. His book, No Greater Love: How My Family Survived the Genocide in Rwanda, is his memoir of growing up in Rwanda and surviving the genocide. The book also contains shorter memoirs by his wife and some of his children, some short pieces by some of his rescuers, a selection of documentary evidence, and a timeline of the genocide. The heroes who helped the Seminega family were conditioned to rescue others before the genocide occurred. As the rescuers’ …

Constructive Welfare: The Social Security Act, The Blind, And The Origins Of Political Identity Among People With Disabilities, 1935-1950, Jennifer L. Erkulwater

Political Science Faculty Publications

In contemporary America, identifying as a person with a disability is one of the many ways in which people acknowledge, even celebrate, who they are. Yet several decades ago, few persons with disabilities saw their condition as an identity to be embraced, let alone to serve as the basis for affinity and collective mobilization. The transformation of disability from unmitigated tragedy to a collective and politicized identity emerged in national politics, not in the 1960s or 1970s, as is commonly thought, but in the 1940s. During those years, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) set out to galvanize the …

Unpacking The Census: 2017 Updates -- Master Copy, John V. Moeser, Nina Mauney, Evelyn Jeong, Emily Routman

Poverty in Metropolitan Richmond

NOTE: Master copy file contains 66 slides and may take several minutes to download.

Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), 2012-2016, Five-Year Estimates. Five-year estimates are used rather than one-year or three-year estimates in order to reduce the margin of error. Slides reflect ACS and Census data from 2000-2016. This update also includes maps and figures pertaining to the Asian and Hispanic/Latino foreign born populations in the region.

[Introduction To] Unjust Borders: Individuals And The Ethics Of Immigration, Javier S. Hidalgo

Bookshelf

States restrict immigration on a massive scale. Governments fortify their borders with walls and fences, authorize border patrols, imprison migrants in detention centers, and deport large numbers of foreigners. Unjust Borders: Individuals and the Ethics of Immigration argues that immigration restrictions are systematically unjust and examines how individual actors should respond to this injustice. Javier Hidalgo maintains that individuals can rightfully resist immigration restrictions and often have strong moral reasons to subvert these laws. This book makes the case that unauthorized migrants can permissibly evade, deceive, and use defensive force against immigration agents, that smugglers can aid migrants in crossing …

There's No Way To Stop Human Trafficking By Treating It As An Immigration Enforcement Problem, Robert W. Spires

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots’ billionaire owner, recently made headlines when he was charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution. The women involved were undocumented Chinese immigrants who were human trafficking victims at the Orchids of Asia spa in Jupiter, Florida.

Studies On Documented Historical Cases Of Civil And War Heroism: A Mini-Review, Hannes Rusch

Heroism Science

This mini-review identifies and briefly describes a total of 12 published studies investigating aspects of war and civil heroism by analyzing larger data sets on documented historical cases of such behavior. Eleven of these studies focus on either Carnegie Medal or Medal of Honor recipients. These two most prominent data sources are briefly characterized and directions for future research are pointed out.

Fiscal Forecasts At The Fomc: Evidence From The Greenbooks, Dean D. Croushore, Simon Van Norden

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper examines fiscal policy forecasts prepared for the Federal Open Market Committee and its influence on U.S. monetary policy. The forecasts contain useful information beyond that in the CBO’s forecasts. Fiscal forecast errors are only weakly correlated with forecast errors for inflation and output growth, but those for the budget surplus are highly correlated with those for the unemployment rate and the output gap. Some fiscal variables can also account for a significant fraction of the “exogenous” changes in the federal funds rate target that Romer and Romer (2004) studied, consistent with the board’s statements on the importance of …

Bicycle Infrastructure And Traffic Congestion: Evidence From Dc's Capital Bikeshare, Timothy L. Hamilton, Casey J. Wichman

Economics Faculty Publications

This study explores the impact of bicycle-sharing infrastructure on urban transportation. We estimate a causal effect of the Capital Bikeshare on traffic congestion in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. We exploit a unique traffic dataset that is finely defined on a spatial and temporal scale. Our approach examines within-city commuting decisions as opposed to traffic patterns on major thruways. Empirical results suggest that the availability of a bikeshare reduces traffic congestion upwards of 4% within a neighborhood. In addition, we estimate heterogeneous treatment effects using panel quantile regression. Results indicate that the congestion-reducing impact of bikeshares is concentrated in highly …

Poverty By Race Of Poor In Henrico County, Virginia, John V. Moeser, Taylor Holden, Evelyn Jeong, Jacob Salamy

Poverty in Metropolitan Richmond

Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), 2011-2015, Five-Year Estimates. Five-year estimates are used rather than one-year or three-year estimates in order to reduce the margin of error. Slides reflect ACS and Census data from 2000-2015. This update also includes maps and figures pertaining to the Asian and Hispanic/Latino foreign born populations in the region.

Children Under 18 Living In Poverty, 2000-2015, John V. Moeser, Taylor Holden, Evelyn Jeong, Jacob Salamy

Poverty in Metropolitan Richmond

Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), 2011-2015, Five-Year Estimates. Five-year estimates are used rather than one-year or three-year estimates in order to reduce the margin of error. Slides reflect ACS and Census data from 2000-2015. This update also includes maps and figures pertaining to the Asian and Hispanic/Latino foreign born populations in the region.

Poverty By Race Of Poor In Chesterfield County, Virginia, John V. Moeser, Taylor Holden, Evelyn Jeong, Jacob Salamy

Poverty in Metropolitan Richmond

Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), 2011-2015, Five-Year Estimates. Five-year estimates are used rather than one-year or three-year estimates in order to reduce the margin of error. Slides reflect ACS and Census data from 2000-2015. This update also includes maps and figures pertaining to the Asian and Hispanic/Latino foreign born populations in the region.

Introduction: Unpacking The Census – 2017, John V. Moeser, Taylor Holden, Evelyn Jeong, Jacob Salamy

Poverty in Metropolitan Richmond

Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), 2011-2015, Five-Year Estimates. Five-year estimates are used rather than one-year or three-year estimates in order to reduce the margin of error. Slides reflect ACS and Census data from 2000-2015. This update also includes maps and figures pertaining to the Asian and Hispanic/Latino foreign born populations in the region.

Poverty By Race Of Poor In Richmond, Virginia, John V. Moeser, Taylor Holden, Evelyn Jeong, Jacob Salamy

Poverty in Metropolitan Richmond

Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), 2011-2015, Five-Year Estimates. Five-year estimates are used rather than one-year or three-year estimates in order to reduce the margin of error. Slides reflect ACS and Census data from 2000-2015. This update also includes maps and figures pertaining to the Asian and Hispanic/Latino foreign born populations in the region.

Poverty In The Greater Richmond Region, 2000-2015, John V. Moeser, Taylor Holden, Evelyn Jeong, Jacob Salamy

Poverty in Metropolitan Richmond

Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), 2011-2015, Five-Year Estimates. Five-year estimates are used rather than one-year or three-year estimates in order to reduce the margin of error. Slides reflect ACS and Census data from 2000-2015. This update also includes maps and figures pertaining to the Asian and Hispanic/Latino foreign born populations in the region.

Poverty By Race Of Poor In Hanover County, Virginia, John V. Moeser, Taylor Holden, Evelyn Jeong, Jacob Salamy

Poverty in Metropolitan Richmond

Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), 2011-2015, Five-Year Estimates. Five-year estimates are used rather than one-year or three-year estimates in order to reduce the margin of error. Slides reflect ACS and Census data from 2000-2015. This update also includes maps and figures pertaining to the Asian and Hispanic/Latino foreign born populations in the region.