Digital Commons Network^™

San Diego Unified Public Schools Tasap Report Progress Report And Next Steps, April 4, 2011

Kathryn A. McDermott

This is a progress report from SDUSD on their TASAP project. It was the latest one we received in our FOIA request.

Heritage Interpretation And Human Rights: Documenting Diversity, Expressing Identity, Or Establishing Universal Principles?, Neil A. Silberman

Neil A. Silberman

No abstract provided.

The Dynamic Lives And Static Institutions Of The "Two Armies:" Data From The 1999 Survey Of Active Duty Personnel, Daniel Burland, Jennifer H. Lundquist

Dr. Jennifer H. Lundquist

The U.S. Army consists of two distinct functional components: soldiers serving in combat roles, on the one hand, and those who serve in support positions, on the other. Do these two functionally distinct segments differ culturally as well? Empirical researchers utilizing qualitative methods have supported a ‘‘Two Armies’’ concept. This article examines the phenomenon quantitatively by using a nationally representative sample of the active duty population. The authors find that there is a statistically significant difference between support and combat soldiers that holds even after taking into account differing demography. Interestingly, this is true mainly of White soldiers, and the …

Nanotechnology And Society: Emerging Organizations, Oversight And Public Policy Systems, Sarah Keister, Goncalves Michelle, Jane E. Fountain

Jane E. Fountain

This report summarizes key points of a National Science Foundation supported national workshop, “Nanotechnology & Society: Emerging Organizations, Oversight, and Public Policy Systems,” that was held on September 23-24, 2010 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMA). The central lessons drawn from three panels form the body of the report. The first panel focused on constructing policy frameworks for policymaking with presentations by Terry Medley, Global Director of Corporate Regulatory Affairs, DuPont; Timothy Malloy, Professor of Law, University of California Los Angeles; and Jordan Paradise, Associate Professor of Law, Seton Hall University. The second panel, International and Federal Policy Emergence, …

The Future Of Government: Lessons Learned From Around The World, Jane E. Fountain, Guido Bertucci, Gregory G. Curtin, Yuri E. Hohlov, Katju Holkeri, Yasar Jarrar, James Kang, Bruno Lanvin, Beth Simone Noveck, Toshio Obi, Haiyan Qian, Ohood Roumi, Larry Stone, Aleem Walji

Jane E. Fountain

Governments around the world are faced with new demands, new expectations and a fast-growing array of new technologies and tools. A current example is the Middle East, where a youth revolution built on the global technology revolution is demanding immediate reform. The challenges faced by governments increasingly span national borders and require resources and expertise to be mobilized on a scale that far exceeds those of governments.

To be efficient and effective in today’s complex, interlinked and fast-changing environment, governments need to redesign their structures and processes to capitalize on a new set of actors and tools. In this context, …

Disjointed Innovation: The Political Economy Of Digitally Mediated Institutional Reform, Jane E. Fountain

Jane E. Fountain

Current attention to social media and governance has focused on the enactment of networked communication and information use by and for governance with particular attention to the role of civil society. This paper argues that such a focus, while illuminating a possibly utopian perspective on political participation, often obscures even recent government reforms, existing institutional arrangements, and the myriad processes by which knowledge is translated to action in political settings. Drawing from and extending core perspectives within historical institutionalism, the paper examines three streams of theory and research: temporal models, coordination models, and the political effects of public policies where …

Local Actions, National Frameworks: A Dual-Scale Comparison Of Climate Adaptation Planning On Two Continents, Elisabeth M. Hamin, Nicole Gurran

Elisabeth M. Hamin

This study explores emerging approaches to local climate change adaptation planning in the United States and Australia, and seeks to explain why some local authorities have begun to take action despite weak national and state level directives. We compare strategic documents from 13 local authorities across the two nations, representing the “first generation” of adaptation plans. Our focus is on potential explanations for early engagement in adaptation planning – size, location and risk level of the municipality, the existence of national or state mandates and access to supra local resources or support. We also explore the nature and type of …