Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Cluster Approach: Gaps And Shortcomings In Un Coordination Of Humanitarian Actors In Post-Earthquake Haiti And Implications For Policy Concerns Of The New Humanitarian School Of Thought, Naomi Vinbury

Sustainability and Social Justice

This research analyzes the role of the UN OCHA Cluster Approach in the context of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Gaps and shortcomings of the current humanitarian model are identified and the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach is considered as a model to be used as an instrument to inform the New Humanitarian school of thought. A recent history of Haiti and the political relationship to the international community will be reviewed as context that outlines the vulnerabilities that created a risk society leading up to the disaster. A brief history of the recent trajectory of humanitarian aid will be reviewed and …

Affective Afterlives: An Ethnography Of Activism Between Movements, Manissa Maharawal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This ethnographic project starts at the end of Occupy Wall Street in New York City and ends at the beginning of Black Lives Matter in Oakland, CA. In between these two movements it looks at a variety of political projects that focused on issues of housing and anti-gentrification in New York City and San Francisco. Throughout I favor a view of social movements that understands the messy trajectories of activism. This methodological privileging of what activists are doing, and the places and spaces in which they ground their work seeks to de-center bounded social movements in the study of politics …

Environmental Advocacy: Insights From East Asia, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

Beyond Urban Versus Rural:, Dante J. Scala, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, authors Dante Scala and Kenneth Johnson examine voting patterns over the last five presidential elections. They report that although rural voters and urban voters are often portrayed as polar opposites, their differences are best understood as a continuum, not a dichotomy. From the largest urban cores to the most remote rural counties, they found significant variations in voting. Hillary Clinton nearly matched Barack Obama’s 2012 performance in most urban areas. Clinton’s defeat was due, in part, to her failure to match the performance of recent Democratic Presidential nominees in less populated areas. Though many commentators argued that …

Global Homelessness In A Post- Recession World, Jay Bainbridge, Tony J. Carrizales

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

The Great Recession has resulted in various changes in homeless populations in municipalities throughout the world. From “unsheltered homeless” in NYC to "rough sleepers" in London and to "sans-abris" in Paris, or "poblacion callejera" in Mexico City, the economic crisis of 2008 impacted economies in ways that put severe pressures on housing, particularly at the lower-income-level brackets. After all, the Great Recession was generated by a housing bubble, which then constricted capital markets for housing. After the immediate crisis, economic stabilization was followed by stagflation or deflation. There were flat or decreasing wages in the middle- to low-income brackets and …

Globalization, Democracy, And Public Space: The Case Of The U.S.- Mexican Border Region, Kimberly Collins

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

The U.S.-Mexican border is a region discussed in public conversations; a place where vendors, disparate groups of people, public art, and many different levels of government converge; it is a place designed to be a gateway between countries. It is a public space, a place where substantive democracy should be paramount. This paper provides a theoretical overview of public space, democracy, and the main bureaucracy in charge, the Department of Homeland Security. It posits that democracy is limited in the border region, with the use of the public space and the functioning of the bureaucracy, and provides suggestions to improve …

Economic Determinant Analysis Of Student Academic Performance In Mississippi Public Schools, Debra Monroe-Lax, Jae-Young Ko

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between economic determinants and student academic performance indicators of public school students in the State of Mississippi. It was hypothesized that public school districts with higher economic security leads to higher academic achievement. Data for the study were obtained through the Mississippi Department of Education Children’s First Annual Report for school year 2012 -2013, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Datacenter for 2013. Using bivariate analyses and multiple regression models, the results revealed that students’ academic performance indicators were statistically significantly with weak to moderate effects for each …

"Corporate Psychopaths" In Public Agencies?, Lee W. Hanson, David L. Baker

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Corporate leaders with psychopathic traits are the subject of a growing scientific literature. Recently, scholars have begun to examine such personalities in public agencies. In this article, we relate psychopathic public leaders to research on toxic and destructive leadership, leader personality disorder, and the Dark Triad/Tetrad of psychopathic, narcissistic, Machiavellian, and sadistic personalities. Via a brief scenario, we illustrate how the term “corporate psychopath” might be used by lay employees lacking psychiatric expertise as a catchall term for any one of the four dark types in a leadership role. We argue that dark personalities are found in public agency leadership …

The Logic Of Uncertainty And Executive Discretion In Decision Making: The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex Ebola Response, Abraham David Benavides, Laura M. Keyes 5457315, David Mcentire, Erin K. Carlson

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

This paper addresses an important question: what can a highly complex public health situation such as the Dallas-Fort Worth Ebola outbreak tell us about the use of discretion by executive level public administrators? The public administration literature is rich with evidence of street-level bureaucratic discretion, but has not explored executive level discretion decision making. The authors argue that in highly complex situations of uncertainty, such as in the case of the Dallas-Fort Worth regional Ebola emergency response, the executive use of discretion translates to decisions under the conditions of uncertainty. This article theorizes a logic of uncertainty when two important …

Globalization, Economic Determinant Analysis And Corporate Psychopaths In Public Agencies, Andrew I.E. Ewoh

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Pension Fund Evictions: Lessons For Housing And Labor, Marnie F. Brady

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation I analyze an institutional investor portfolio of over-leveraged multifamily rental housing in East Palo Alto, California to demonstrate how changing forms of landlordism produce both new and familiar targets for tenants organizing against displacement and for housing security. Venture capital investors in the first decade of the 2000s exploited the Silicon Valley regional conditions of racial exclusion, uneven development, and municipal rent control. I introduce the legacy of Black political organization in East Palo Alto as a way of contextualizing the tenants’ and the city leaders’ response to the monopoly investment purchase. The structure of this rental …

Bringing The State Home: Neoliberalism In Global Models Of Public Housing, Nicholas Alfino

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

Global public housing authorities in state versus market capitalism take different approaches to provide housing for multicultural demographics. This capstone project looks at that of New York City and Singapore as case studies of ideologies of welfare, multicultural national identity and public policies representative of their political economies. With special attention paid the spatial relations of ethnic enclaves in both urban environments, focus is placed on a social, lived experience shaped by both 'productivist' versus 'cynical' ideology and privatization versus state authoritarianism. Each political economic system of welfare reaches from larger concepts of national and global economy to the local …

Paradoxes Of Violence: A Post-Colonial 'Gaze' On Chicago's Segregation, Zackary Rupp

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

Although post-colonial theory was developed to examine the legacy of colonial powers, this project proposes that post-colonial theory can nonetheless fruitfully be used for a literary analysis of the Fair Housing Act to account for the typically non-colonial legacy of US segregation. Even though Chicago is not a city in the colonial context, the post-colonial discourse of violence, territorialization, and citizenship are useful tools for understanding the language in legislation that shaped American systemic segregation. Through a post-colonial lens, the research shifts the individual attention away from the marginalized offender and focuses on systemic othering that has shaped spaces suffering …

Ticket To The Past: A Political History Of The Mexico City Metro, 1958-1969, Maxwell E.P. Ulin

Grand Valley Journal of History

This essay outlines the historic political battle between Mexico's longest serving mayor, Ernesto Uruchurtu, and the nation's president, Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, over the construction of what would become the second largest subway system in the Western Hemisphere, The Mexico City Metro. The conflict, which eventually resulted in Uruchurtu's resignation, was characterized by latent political tensions between the PRI and Mexican middle class that would erupt in 1968 and lead to the ultimate decline of PRI hegemony. I thus argue that the new Metro project did not reflect Mexico's democratic modernization--as its supporters meant it to do--but rather the vestiges of …

Governing The Urban Water Commons : Essays On Collaborative Policy Networks In A Polycentric Ecology Of Urban Water Policy Games., Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Governing social-ecological systems, such as the urban water commons, is a multi-scale and multi-sector (polycentric) human-environment process. This dissertation interrogates this process by situating itself within the Ecology of Games Framework by Norton Long (and updated by Mark Lubell) and the literature on polycentric governance by the Bloomington School of Political Economy. The dissertation’s three essays 1) offer both theoretical and methodological means to enact polycentric public economies within the ecology of games framework, and 2) explicate the conditions under which interoganizational collaboration is fostered within a polycentric ecology of policy games in governing the Middle Rio Grande urban watershed. …

Sweden’S Floating Refugee Camp: A New Form Of Spatial Segregation?, Miranda L. Weinstein

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper looks at the structure of discrimination and marginalization of refugees and asylum-seekers. The paper investigates a new form of housing –– floatels –– which was seen in Sweden in 2016. This paper explores the relevant literature on identity, biopower, and spatial segregation, to make the case that floatels are contemporary forms of encampment. Floatels are clear examples of the State’s use of biopower to spatially segregate certain undesirable populations. By providing a case study of the situation in Sweden, the overall goal of the paper is to highlight the issues and complexity involved in refugee housing. In particular, …

I Share, Therefore It's Mine, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Race And Justice Outcomes: Contextualizing Racial Discrimination And Ferguson, Jason M. Williams

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

While scores of literature may hint at the tumultuous relationship between the criminal justice system and Blacks, such literature, however, fail to assess, comprehensively, the intersectional purpose of present criminal justice processes and race. This paper will examine contemporary applications of justice along racial lines. It is argued that current justice outcomes are advantageous to the status quo. It is no secret that the American system of justice has a race problem; however, if the goal is to administer justice then, as this paper argues, the current system needs to be seriously examined and rebuilt. The paper also argues that …

Examining The Impact Of Institutional Racism In Black Residentially Segregated Communities, Brandi Blessett, Vanessa Littleton

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

This article examines the impact of public policies in inner city communities. Using Ferguson, MO as an exemplar, the authors offer a contextual analysis of a community recently in the spotlight for the killing of an unarmed black man by a law enforcement officer. Through the lens of the social determinants of health, we examine “place” as a powerful determinant of health and community outcomes. We consider the implications of public policies and the subsequent impact on social and economic context. The authors highlight the existence of social, economic, environmental, political, and cultural factors experienced by Blacks in Ferguson, MO …

The Year 2014: A Banner Year For Institutional Racism, Andrew I.E. Ewoh

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

The Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs is dedicating this special issue to the profound and pervasive effects of institutional racism that were prominent in 2014. The year 2014 might be viewed as a remarkable year for institutional racism. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Section IV of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is no longer necessary.

Citizen Evaluation Of Government And Confidence In Public Institutions In Emergent Islamic Democracies: Evidence From Afghanistan, Nicholas O. Alozie, Andrew I.E. Ewoh

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Extant literature on citizen evaluation of government and confidence in public institutions is anchored on findings largely derived from the rich and enduring democratic traditions of Western industrialized democracies. This research explores whether this literature informs and can be generalized to similar phenomena in a developmental Islamic democracy, such as that in Afghanistan. Analyzing national probability survey data of adult Afghans, we find that prevailing theories of citizen evaluation of government and confidence in public institutions do offer viable explanations, although the effect of each factor varies according to both level of government and institution. Also, the effects of perceptions …

Explaining Political Trust Among African Americans, Maruice Mangum

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

African Americans have low levels of political trust when compared to white Americans. Explanations of African American’s political trust remain minimal. Utilizing data taken from the 1996 National Black Election Study and ordered probit to analyze the data, this study examines four explanations of African American political trust. It estimates political trust as a function of demographics, perceptions about the economy, beneficence from the government, and race orientation. Results show support for most of these factors, but no support for government beneficence. Social location, economic evaluations, and orientation to race influence African American political trust. I conclude that group-centric perceptions …

Does Kipp Grow Advantaged? Analyzing Kipp Campuses Over Time, Robert Maranto, Sarah B. Moore, Gary Ritter

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) charter schools are regarded as among the most academically successful schools serving high poverty populations. KIPP schools serve students that are more likely to be poor and from racial minorities than their peers in nearby traditional public schools. Nevertheless, it is possible that, as parents become aware of KIPP’s seemingly successful track record, the student population at KIPP might become less disadvantaged over time. Using Common Core data, we examined demographic changes in 81 KIPP schools that opened between 1995 and 2011, finding no quantitative evidence that KIPP students are growing more advantaged over time. …

Shifting The Blame In Public Education: Are There Parallels Between Opinion And Policy?, Barbara Patrick, Aaron . C. Rollins Jr

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Federal policies have expanded the use of market driven performance reforms. A growing number of these reforms assume that citizens believe educators should be held accountable for outcomes and funding sanctions will cause underperforming school to enhance outcomes. However it is unclear if citizens share these views. This research assesses these assumptions by examining who citizens believe should be most accountable for education outcomes and whether they support policies that removes funds from underperforming schools and rewards them to other education entities. The results reveal that citizens believe either parents or students should be held more accountable for education outcomes, …

The Economic Impact Of Changing Water Levels: A Regional Economic Analysis Of Lake Thurmond, Rob Carey, Lori A. Dickes, Elizabeth L. Crouch

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

This article examines the economic impact of declining lake levels on the local economy in six counties near the publically managed Thurmond Reservoir, located along the border of Georgia and South Carolina. A regression analysis of the relationship between lake level elevations and lake front real estate transactions is used in conjunction with an input-output model to estimate the median monthly economic impact of a one-foot increase in lake level in terms of employment, output, disposable income, and net local government revenue on the six counties bordering the lake. Thurmond Lake elevations have a statistically significant impact on regional economic …

Representative Bureaucracy, Street-Level Bureaucrats And Bureaucratic Discretion In Federal Disaster Assistance, Jason David Rivera

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

This paper explores the role of representative bureaucracy and bureaucratic discretion in the allocation of federal disaster assistance to Hurricane Sandy survivors. Through the analysis of focus groups and key informant interviews, this study finds that FEMA home inspectors are not diverse in reference to race and gender; however, inspectors are found to be diverse in reference to place of origin. Although the role that race and gender play in the allocation of resources is found to be unclear, the region from which inspectors come from is found to be influential in the allocation of aid to survivors. As such, …

Representative Bureaucracy, Recidivism, Education, Public Trust, And Citizen Evaluation Of Government, Andrew I.E. Ewoh

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

From Porto Alegre To New York City: Participatory Budgeting And Democracy, Celina Su

Publications and Research

Because of its popularity, there is now a large literature examining how participatory budgeting (PB) deepens participation by the poor and redistributes resources. Closer examinations of recent cases of PB can help us to better understand the political configurations in which these new participatory democratic spaces are embedded, and articulate the conditions that might lead to more meaningful outcomes. Who participates? For whose benefit? The articles in this symposium, on participatory budgeting in New York City (PBNYC), highlight both strengths and challenges of the largest American PB process. They focus less on redistribution, more on the dimensions of the process …

Beyond Inclusion: Critical Race Theory And Participatory Budgeting, Celina Su

Publications and Research

Critical Race Theory (CRT) researchers maintain that mainstream liberal discourses of neutrality and colorblindness inherently reify existing patterns of inequality, and that privileging the voices of people of color and the marginalized is essential to addressing issues of equity and equality. Participatory budgeting (PB) aims, too, to include the voices of the marginalized in substantive policy-making. Through a CRT lens, I examine the ways in which the New York City PB process has thus far worked to simultaneously disrupt and maintain racial hierarchies. I pay particular attention to how social constructions of the “good project” shape the discourses around community …

Overpopulation And The Impact On The Environment, Doris Baus

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this research paper, the main focus is on the issue of overpopulation and its impact on the environment. The growing size of the global population is not an issue that appeared within the past couple of decades, but its origins come from the prehistoric time and extend to the very present day. Throughout the history, acknowledged scientists introduced the concept of “overpopulation” and predicted the future consequences if the world follows the same behavioral pattern. According to predictions, scientists invented the birth control pill and set population control through eugenics. Despite that, population continued to increase and fight with …