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Laws, Norms, And The Institutional Analysis And Development Framework, Daniel H. Cole

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Elinor Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework has been described as ‘one of the most developed and sophisticated attempts to use institutional and stakeholder assessment in order to link theory and practice, analysis and policy’. But not all elements in the framework are sufficiently well developed. This paper focuses on one such element: the ‘rules-in-use’ (a.k.a. ‘rules’ or ‘working rules’). Specifically, it begins a long-overdue conversation about relations between formal legal rules and ‘working rules’ by offering a tentative and very simple typology of relations. Type 1: Some formal legal rules equal or approximate the working rules; Type 2: …

De-Fence Europe! The Defence Industry, The Refugee Crisis, And The Shaping Of Eu Border Policy, Sarah C. Sanbar

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores some of the connections between the defence industry and the European border policy that emerged leading up to, and following, the European refugee crisis of 2015. The paper is divided into two parts. The first seeks to examine and understand the context in which the refugee crisis occurred. In order to do this, I begin with a literature review that uses the integration theory of Multilevel Governance to understand how and where the European Union (EU) is susceptible to political pressure or special interest influence. Next, I present a brief history of the causes and course of …

Sustainable Mining For Long Term Poverty Alleviation In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Ellen Perfect

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the poverty alleviation and peace-spoiling power of the mineral extraction sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to arrive at a set of strategic goals for the country moving forward. Although subterranean minerals are often a source or perpetuator of violence, the potential to lift the country’s rural communities out of extreme poverty makes the mining industry an essential part of the nation’s development strategies. Lessons from Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Uganda and Sierra Leone to arrive at best practices for increasing the multiplier effect of large-scale mining, formalization, beneficiation, capital …

A Better Calculus For Regulators: From Cost-Benefit Analysis To The Social Welfare Function, Matthew D. Adler

Faculty Scholarship

The “social welfare function” (SWF) is a powerful tool that originates in theoretical welfare economics and has wide application in economic scholarship, for example in optimal tax theory and environmental economics. This Article provides a comprehensive introduction to the SWF framework. It then shows how the SWF framework can be used as the basis for regulatory policy analysis, and why it improves upon cost-benefit analysis (CBA).

Two types of SWFs are especially plausible: the utilitarian SWF, which sums individual well-being numbers, and the prioritarian SWF, which gives extra weight to the well-being of the worse off. Either one of these …

Patriotic Philanthropy? Financing The State With Gifts To Government, Margaret H. Lemos, Guy-Uriel Charles

Faculty Scholarship

Federal and state law prohibit government officials from accepting gifts or “emoluments” from outside sources. The purpose of gift bans, like restrictions on more explicit forms of bribery, is to protect the integrity of political processes and to ensure that decisions about public policy are made in the public interest — not to advance a private agenda. Similar considerations animate regulations on campaign funding and lobbying. Yet private entities remain free to offer gifts to government itself, to foot the bill for particular public projects they would like to see government pursue. Such gifts — dubbed “patriotic philanthropy” by one …

Changing The Tax Code To Create Consumer-Driven Health Insurance Competition, Regina Herzlinger, Barak D. Richman

Faculty Scholarship

Because current tax laws exclude employer-paid health insurance premiums from employees’ taxable wages and income, employer-sponsored insurance remains the primary source of health insurance for most employed Americans. Economists have long blamed the employer-based insurance tax exclusion for inflating health care costs, and, more recently, for constraining income growth and exacerbating income inequality.

We execute a simulation to test the effect of permitting employees to receive their employers’ premium contribution directly and then purchase health insurance themselves, using tax-free funds. Employees could deduct for income tax purposes the amount used for insurance and, if they spend less than the amount …

N.C. Medicaid Reform: A Bipartisan Path Forward, Barak D. Richman, Allison Rice

Faculty Scholarship

The North Carolina Medicaid program currently constitutes 32% of the state budget and provides insurance coverage to 18% of the state’s population. At the same time, 13% of North Carolinians remain uninsured, and even among the insured, significant health disparities persist across income, geography, education, and race.

The Duke University Bass Connections Medicaid Reform project gathered to consider how North Carolina could use its limited Medicaid dollars more effectively to reduce the incidence of poor health, improve access to healthcare, and reduce budgetary pressures on the state’s taxpayers.

This report is submitted to North Carolina’s policymakers and citizens. It assesses …

Data Note: Time From Vr Application To Closure In Employment For Adults With Intellectual Disabilities, Alberto Migliore, Uchenna Nwangwu, John Butterworth, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Getting a job as soon as possible after applying for vocational rehabilitation (VR) services is important for job seekers with intellectual disabilities. This DataNote describes how long it takes for job seekers with intellectual disabilities to go through the steps from application for VR services to determination of eligibility, completion of an individual employment plan, and closure into integrated employment.

The Road To The Cliff Edge: Understanding Financial Gaps In Public Assistance Programs Available To Massachusetts Families, Marija Bingulac, Caitlin A. Carey, Susan Crandall

Center for Social Policy Publications

To better understand the interaction between public supports and earned income and its impact on overall economic well-being, we conducted research on public support program eligibility criteria, regulations, and administration. We use the concept of “financial gaps” to outline specific problems created by the complex system of public supports built around an inadequate assessment of households’ ability to meet basic needs. The typology we provide is intended to be a tool for advocates, service providers, researchers, and policy makers that will help them hone in on the precise problem and develop appropriate policy interventions.

2016-2017 Annual Town Report Town Of Windsor, Windsor (Me.). Municipal Officers

Maine Town Documents

No abstract provided.

Toward The “Better Than Well” Cultural Ideal: Understanding Changing Conceptualizations Of Illness And Wellness And North American Parenting, Pedagogy, And Education Policy (19th-21st C.), Nicole Ortegon

Dissertations

In the history of the United States, dominant conceptualizations of mental illness and wellness have been informed by scientific discourses situated in somatic and psychogenic-based paradigms – each affecting parenting, pedagogy, and education policy. From the late nineteenth through twentieth century, the field of psychiatry would come to endorse a primarily psychogenic rather than somatic-based approach to mental health, conceiving of the mind rather than body as the primary locus of illness and wellness. This resulted in a shift from a problem-focused paradigm of mental illness to prophylactic-focused paradigm of mental wellness. Secondary scholarship on the history of psychology and …

Annual Report Wayne, Maine For The Year Ending June 30, 2017, Wayne (Me.). Municipal Officers

Maine Town Documents

No abstract provided.

Annual Report Town Of West Bath, Maine Audited Year Ending June 30, 2017, West Bath (Me.). Municipal Officers

Maine Town Documents

No abstract provided.

Town Of Wells Annual Report Fiscal Year 2017, Wells (Me.). Municipal Officials

Maine Town Documents

No abstract provided.

Town Of West Paris Selected Ordinances, West Paris (Me.). Municipal Officers

Maine Town Documents

Selected ordinances include:

Board of Appeals Ordinance, 2009
Curfew Ordinance, 1978
Dog and Cat Breeding Ordinance, 2006
Dog Ordinance, 2017
Floodplain Management Ordinance, 1996
General Assistance Ordinance, 1996
Intent to Build or Remodel Ordinance, 2001
Loitering Ordinance, 1978
Minimum Lot Size Ordinance, 1996
Mobile Home Park Ordinance, 1986
Parking Ordinance, 1966
Planning Board Ordinance, 1995
Shoreland Zoning Ordinance
Special Amusement, 1983
Subdivision Ordinance, 1989
Transfer_Station Regulations, 2016

Town Of West Paris 60th Annual Report Of The Municipal Officers And Officials For The Year Ending December 31, 2017, West Paris (Me.). Municipal Officers

Maine Town Documents

No abstract provided.

Westbrook Maine Selected Planning Board Reports, Edward Reidman

Maine Town Documents

Selected Planning Board Reports include:

2013 Planning Board Chairman's Report
2014 Planning Board Report
2015 Planning Board Chairman's Report
2016 Planning Board Report
2017 Planning Board Chairman Report
If I Want to Testify What Should I do
A Guide to Public Participation in the Planning Board Process

Choice-Of-Law Rules For Secured Transactions: An Interest-Based And Modern Principles-Based Framework For Assessment, Charles W. Mooney Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

This essay examines the law applicable to secured transactions. It addresses in particular the codification of the choice-of-law rules for secured transactions (STCOL rules). These rules address the laws applicable to the creation, perfection, priority, and enforcement of security interests (security rights)—a form of legislative or statutory dépeçage. It draws on the 2016 UNCITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions (Model Law) as well as relevant North American law (Uniform Commercial Code Article 9 and the Canadian provincial Personal Property Security Acts). The STCOL rules lie at the heart of the emerged and emerging modern principles of secured transactions law …

How Effective Is The San Francisco Unified School District In Educating Homeless Youth?, Gabriela Michel

Master's Projects and Capstones

Executive Summary:

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was passed in 1987 as the first landmark legislation to combat the national homelessness epidemic. Since its inception, the McKinney- Vento Act has been amended six different times. The McKinney-Vento Act has failed to address the causes of homelessness and provide adequate funding for public school districts across the country to meet the growing demands of the homeless youth population.

The San Francisco Unified School District is one of the public school districts that has been affected by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. This paper presents the inadequate funding and implementation of the …

Considering Clausewitz Across Contexts, Laura Salter

Tenor of Our Times

Carl von Clausewitz’s On War has been heralded as one of the most influential theories of war. It has influenced statesmen as diverse as Dwight Eisenhower, Vladimir Lenin, and Adolf Hitler. After having been incorporated into various schools of thought, taught to soldiers and studied extensively, it begs the question: what explains the continuous relevance of Clausewitz’s theory, despite changing contexts and technology? This paper posits that Clausewitz presented war as an extension of politics composed of a trinity of forces, used methodology that would transcend eras, and wrote about war’s very nature. In doing so, On War gained its …