Digital Commons Network^™

Influence Of Incomplete And Unverified Vote-By-Mail Ballots On Mail-In Voting, Susanne Lynne Timmons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Vote-by-mail (VBM) ballots that were returned inaccurately during past general elections contributed to votes that were not counted in Florida. Since 2016, more than 600,000 mail ballots were not counted in the state; 73,000 were not counted in Broward County, Florida. The problem was that VBM ballots were returned as incomplete due to missing or mismatched signatures and not counted during the election processes. However, it was not known if this issue impacted voter perceptions of VBM voting. The public choice theory was the theoretical framework. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of voter perceptions …

A Qualitative Study Of Federal Employee Whistleblowing And Reprisal For Whistleblowing, Bruce S. Mclean

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Federal employee whistleblowing is essential to holding government officials accountable. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) was established in 1979 to provide a secure channel for federal government employees to report wrongdoing while protecting them from reprisal. More statutory protections were enacted with the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) in 1989; however, deficiencies in the WPA led to the eventual passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act in 2012. The problem is that the literature on whistleblowing fails to distinguish the OSC as the Executive Branch whistleblower protection agency nor recognize its annual reports and surveys as the only known …

Comparison Of Redevelopment Policies, Gentrification, And Disparate Impact In Tallahassee, Dallas, And San Diego, William Dorsey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Previous studies found that the economics of poverty are closely tied to property values, education, and employment. Racial disparity in income also exists today. Part of this is attributed to mass gentrification through Urban Renewal Administration programs that legally displaced entire Black neighborhoods under the purview of the Housing Act of 1954 prior to the Fair Housing Act of 1968. For example, Harlem Park was vacated and redeveloped using eminent domain. Critical Race theorists claim that these programs continue today using colorblind policies and secondary discrimination. This dissertation sought to develop a theoretical understanding of the impact ideology has on …

Can Officers Confidently Query State Vanity Plates & Account For License Plate Reader Inaccuracies?, Matthew Adam Simon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research explored whether Massachusetts police officers in Hampden County struggle to query state vanity plates through their mobile data terminals. When officers fail to attain a valid query response from their electronic inquiries, they cannot positively identify any pertinent data relating to a target vehicle. Consequently, the obstacles tied to this potential problem could provide criminals with an insulative layer of anonymity that shelters them from detection. This study employed a cross-sectional quantitative approach that sampled 164 police officers with traffic enforcement duties across Hampden County, MA. The study asked officers to answer a scalable questionnaire concerning their confidence …

Imposing The Digital Tax On The Profits Of Electronic Companies And Its Impact On Increasing Revenues: A Survey Study Of The Opinions Of A Sample Of Managers And Estimators Working In The General Tax Authority In Iraq, Bushra Hassan Mohamed El-Toby

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

The study aims to show the financial impact of the imposition of the digital tax on the profits of electronic companies in increasing the general revenues of the state and to identify the obstacles that tax authorities may face during its imposition. The study methodology relies on the inductive approach in observing the research problem represented by the weak contribution of traditional tax revenues in supporting general revenues, as well as the deductive approach to clarify the nature of the relationship between the independent and dependent study variables according to theoretical and applied frameworks. For this purpose, we designed a …

Improving Volunteers' Safety During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Dr. Laquetta Postell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The onset of COVID-19 presented multiple challenges to both governmental and nongovernmental organizations. The selected study site is a nonprofit organization located in a major Southern US City. This organization shelters homeless men. The organization depended on volunteers' assistance in offering short-term and long-term solutions to provide clothing, cleaning, and shelter for homeless men. The organization was facing new challenges due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, the complexities of the social, political, and economic challenges for volunteers during the pandemic were well explored. The nonprofit organization’s challenges were examined and recommendations to help the organization …

Dual Effect Of Exchange Rate Policies And Export Promotion On China’S Economic Growth (1990-2023), Ihab Abbas Mohammed Al-Faisal, Zahid Qasim Al-Saadib

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

The study aims to identify the Chinese economy’s economic variables by studying and analyzing exchange rate and export promotion policies as they directly relate to the country and its external environment. Studying the relationship between currency exchange rates and exports, on the one hand, and exports and economic growth in China, on the other hand, is essential in knowing when devaluing the Yuan exchange rate leads to higher export growth, which helped raise economic growth rates in China. Therefore, the study relied on the hypothesis that “if China comes up with financial policies to reduce the exchange rate of its …

Policy Note | Weekly Fed Report Still Drives Discount Window Stigma, Steven Kelly

Journal of Financial Crises

As banking regulators work to destigmatize the Federal Reserve’s discount window—and fervently so since the 2023 banking crisis—they’ve pointed to several potentially fruitful policy routes. These have included supervisory improvements, regulatory changes, and operational enhancements by both the banks and the Fed. Left off the menu so far have been changes to the Fed’s weekly publications that reveal up-to-date discount window borrowing data by regional geography. Reforms following the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–2009 have made mandatory the disclosure of discount window borrowers on a two-year lag—higher transparency than previously when no disclosure was required. However, bigger banks, such as …

Latvia: Parex Bank Capital Injection, 2008, Bailey Decker

Journal of Financial Crises

Heading into the Global Financial Crisis, JSC Parex banka was Latvia’s second-largest bank in terms of assets, comprising 13.8% of total assets in the Latvian banking sector. In autumn 2008, Parex faced a capital shortfall owing to massive credit and market losses in addition to increasing liquidity problems and deposit runs of 240 million Latvian lats (LVL; USD 428.6 million). Parex’s capital adequacy ratio fell below the regulatory minimum of 8% on October 28, 2008. Parex had two senior syndicated loans maturing in February and June 2009, totaling EUR 775 million (USD 992 million). Latvian authorities doubted that Parex would …

India: Yes Bank Capital Injection, 2020, Salil Gupta

Journal of Financial Crises

In March 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) helped engineer a capital injection and restructuring of Yes Bank, India’s fourth-largest private sector bank, to prevent a run on the bank and to preserve broader financial stability. On March 14, 2020, Yes Bank received a total capital injection of 100 billion Indian rupees (INR; USD 1.34 billion) in total from the State Bank of India and a group of private sector banks (HDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Federal Bank, Bandhan Bank, IDFC First Bank). The government-owned SBI received a 48.2% equity stake, committing to contribute up to …

Germany: Ikb Deutsche Industriebank Capital Injection, 2008, Lakshimi Swaminathan, Rishi Vala

Journal of Financial Crises

In July 2007, investors rapidly pulled their funding from asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) programs that held US subprime mortgage-linked securities. According to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), German bank IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG (IKB) was the “first big casualty” of that run on ABCP. It had directly and indirectly guaranteed to provide EUR 9.3 billion in liquidity to its off-balance-sheet vehicle, Rhineland Funding Capital Corporation. German authorities and the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), a state-owned German development bank, quickly took over those obligations on July 30 to keep IKB solvent and prevent it from closing. KfW also agreed to …

Advancements In Mine Action: Enhancing Remote Reporting And Analysis Through Innovative Technologies, Rory Collins, Lionel Fragniere, Mateo Dulce Rubio

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

This paper examines the innovative initiatives undertaken by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Peace and Security Cluster (PSC) in advancing humanitarian mine action (HMA) through remote reporting and analysis technologies. It provides an in-depth analysis of key initiatives, including the development of a mapping tool in Gaza, the application of Natural Language Processing (NLP) for efficient data management in improvised explosive devices (IED) threat mitigation globally, and the utilization of advanced remote sensing and machine learning technologies in Syria and Afghanistan. Through these use cases, we demonstrate how innovative technologies can be incorporated into HMA to increase …

Basic Identification Of Ammunition In Ukraine Guide: Version 6.0, Senior Lieutenant Perederii, Tony Salvo, Drew Prater

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Ordnance identification is a critical tenet of any competent munition clearance operation, whether it be civilian or military. Ordnance identification information for first responders, especially safety procedures, is vital when shielding civilians from danger. This is even more important when the munitions being cleared are explosive remnants of war (ERW) from on-going conflict. To that end, Version 6.0 of the Basic Identification of Ammunition in Ukraine1 has been released and has some important updates to help ensure clearance personnel and first responders can help keep civilians safe.

Book Review: A Call To Action: Lessons From Ukraine For The Future Force, John C. Erickson, Timothy S. Martin

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Authors: John A. Nagl and Katie Crombe

Reviewed by John C. Erickson, senior engineer, Axiom Technologies, and Lieutenant Colonel Timothy S. Martin, director, Defense Strategy Course, US Army War College

John C. Erickson and Timothy S. Martin review one of the US Army War College Press’s most-downloaded publications, A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force, an integrated research project that covers the first year of the Russia-Ukraine War. Erickson and Martin provide a useful overview and analysis, highlighting 10 key themes, with a special focus on the “Clausewitzian triad” and “mission command,” and explaining why members …

A Qualitative Examination Of Factors Potentially Impacting Displacement Of Historically Black Communities, Daffney Moore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Historically, Black communities have often been discussed in the context of crime and poverty; however, most Black communities were flourishing neighborhoods with businesses, churches, and schools. Most of the literature related to gentrification and displacement does not address the root causes of the disappearance of Black communities, which generally centers on policies, legislation, force-outs, economic development, and racial disparities. This case study aimed to explore the displacement of a suburban historically Black community in St. Louis County, Missouri. Scholars have scarcely examined or written about the history of Black communities. The research question sought to explore the impact of displacement …

Review Of “Social Entrepreneurship In India: Quarter Idealism And A Pound Of Pragmatism” By Madhukar Shukla (2020), Meena Raghunathan

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The article is a review of ‘Social Entrepreneurship in India: Quarter Idealism and a Pound of Pragmatism’ by Madhukar Shukla. It summarizes and offers clarification and elaboration of key concepts covered in the book. These include the definition of social entrepreneurship, the taxonomy of social entrepreneurs, what characterizes them, various forms that such organizations may take, and whether social entrepreneurs are fundamentally different from other entrepreneurs or similar in many ways.

The review points out the value of the book for those in social development, argues that the book is for India as well as of universal interest, and …

Bridging The Atrocity Prevention Gap Between The International And The Local: Lessons Learned From Meso-Level Leadership In Ukraine And Syria, Kristina Hook, Jamie D. Wise

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This paper explores meso-level approaches to atrocity prevention that incorporate a wider array of local expertise at all stages, from early warning to transitional justice. Specifically, we treat meso-level approaches as encompassing local leadership and advocacy across bottom-up processes, grassroots efforts, victim-led activism, and civil society mobilization. We draw from two contemporary cases of mass atrocities, Ukraine and Syria, which exemplify such efforts, using primary interview data with meso-level actors. First, we examine atrocity risk early warning in Ukraine, where prescient local expertise at the meso-level failed to influence international responses, asking what went wrong and what more could be …

Revivifying The Responsibility To Protect: Strengthening The Normative Consensus For Atrocity Prevention, Matthew Levinger

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This paper examines weaknesses in the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle, drawing on the scholarly literature on norm diffusion and norm cooptation. Despite having been unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2005, the R2P doctrine almost immediately attracted criticism that it reinforced a neocolonial stance by nations of the Global North toward those of the Global South. This critique grew in force during the chaotic aftermath of the 2011 intervention in Libya, which had been authorized as an R2P mission. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and the intensifying competition between the United States and China …

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 28.3, Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

No abstract provided.

Criminal Justice Update - October 2024, Mia Agudelo

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office
• Updates from the PA Legislature
• Updates from the Courts
• U.S. Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure (no updates this month)
• PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure
• PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

Using Pay-For-Performance Payment Methodology Framework For Medicaid Reimbursement Rate In State Government, Motunrayo S. Dindi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Medicaid Home Community Based Services (HCBS) program reimbursement rate policy plays a critical role in the rate determination and influences the type of care services received by program recipients. This qualitative case study evaluated the impact of the reimbursement rate policy on the quality of care received by Medicaid HCBS program beneficiaries. The practice-focused question for this study was from the Office of Rates and Reimbursements management perspective on how the state can implement an effective alternative reimbursement rate policy to achieve value-based care services that would result in better healthcare outcomes. To achieve the desired result, thematic and narrative …

Historical Fire And Forest Structure In Western Dry Forests: Alternative Models, Controversies, And Management Plan Revision, Gordon Steinhoff

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Management plan revision is currently underway for national forests in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, the Pacific Northwest, and other regions of the country under the U.S. Forest Service’s 2012 Planning Rule. With respect to dry ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada and Pacific Northwest, agency scientists and others claim that these forests were historically open and parklike, with primarily large, well-distributed trees, few smaller trees, and sparse underlying vegetation, leaf litter, and woody debris. Large, high-severity fire was rare. Fire exclusion since the early 1900s has led to the “densification” of these forests and unnatural …

Leading The Charge: How Increased Adoption Of Electric Vehicles Renews Calls For Data Privacy Protection In The United States, Patrick Rogers

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note will examine the privacy risks associated with constructing the nationwide [electric vehicle] EV charging network and propose solutions to mitigate this risk. Part I of this Note will discuss the Biden Administration’s climate policy and legislation and focus on the transportation sector. Part II will explain EV charging and expound on the cybersecurity and privacy concerns of the charging process. Part III will survey the current regulatory landscape at the federal level and highlight California’s approach to data privacy. Finally, Part IV examines recently proposed federal and model state legislation in light of the Fair Information Practice Principles …

Forest For The Trees: Collective Accountability And Trust As Groundwork For Systems Change, Shaady Salehi, Pia Infante

The Foundation Review

Since 2020, trust-based philanthropy has gained momentum as a strategy to alleviate inherent power imbalances between funders, nonprofits, and the communities they serve. The cornerstone of the approach is a set of grantmaking practices, such as multiyear unrestricted funding and streamlined paperwork, that support nonprofit self-determination toward achieving impact goals.

At a deeper level, trust-based philanthropy is driven by core values that position funders as collaborators and supporters working alongside nonprofits to advance a more just and equitable society. This requires a radically different stance on accountability from conventional philanthropic norms. Rather than reinforcing a sense of one-way transactional accountability, …

Advocacy And Bridging Strategies Are Failing On Their Own. Multifaith Nonprofits Embody Six Solutions For A Pluralistic Democracy, Allison K. Ralph

The Foundation Review

This article clarifies a strategic dilemma between bridging difference or advocacy strategies for funders and their grantees seeking social change in the context of polarization, putting it in conversation with social science research on intergroup contact theory, on which bridging strategies are based, and advocacy. Based on a set of interviews and surveys, this article explores how multifaith organizations embody strategies that navigate the contact/advocacy divide.

This article posits that multifaith organizations — those intentionally formed of people or institutions with different faith identities — embody six practices that avoid the false dichotomy of bridging and advocacy strategies: “dual identity” …

Update On Recommendations For Surveillance For Children With Predisposition To Hematopoietic Malignancy, Luke D Maese, Marcin W Wlodarski, Sun Young Kim, Alison A Bertuch, Gaelle Bougeard, Vivian Y Chang, Lucy A Godley, Payal P Khincha, Roland P Kuiper, Harry Lesmana, Rose B Mcgee, Lisa J Mcreynolds, Julia Meade, Sharon E Plon, Sharon A Savage, Sarah R Scollon, Hamish S Scott, Michael F Walsh, Kim E Nichols, Christopher C Porter

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Children harboring certain germline gene variants have an increased risk of developing myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and other hematopoietic malignancies (HM), such as leukemias and lymphomas. Recent studies have identified an expanding number of these predisposition genes, with variants most prevalent in children with MDS but also found in children with other HM. For some hematopoietic malignancy predispositions (HMP), specifically those with a high risk of MDS, early intervention through hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can favorably impact overall survival, providing a rationale for rigorous surveillance. A multidisciplinary panel of experts at the 2023 AACR Childhood Cancer Predisposition Workshop reviewed the latest …

The Digital Battlefield: Extremists On Social Media, Daniel P. Shanks

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The rise of social media has transformed the battleground for extremist groups like ISIS and the Taliban, enabling them to reach global audiences with unprecedented ease. This dissertation investigates the social media strategies employed by the Taliban and ISIS. These social media strategies are used to further their strategic objectives in propaganda, recruitment, and operational coordination. Through a comprehensive analysis, the study explores how these extremist groups adapt their digital tactics in response to evolving military and political landscapes. Utilizing case studies from key military engagements and applying theoretical frameworks of rational actor theory, social identity theory, and finite and …

Unconditional Cash Transfer Policy As An Effort To Prevent Stunting: A Study On Jember, East Java, Allen Pranata Putra, Sri Juni Woro Astuti, Kabiru Hannafi Ibrahim

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

This study evaluates the impact of the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) policy in preventing stunting in Jember, East Java. Stunting, a result of chronic malnutrition, remains a significant public health challenge in Indonesia, with Jember exhibiting higher prevalence rates than the national average. The UCT policy aims to improve the welfare of low-income families by providing direct financial assistance, allowing them to meet basic needs, including nutrition. This research utilizes a qualitative approach through case studies and interviews with relevant stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of UCT in enhancing children's nutrition and health. The findings indicate that while UCT has …

Measuring The Efficiency Of The External Auditor’S In Improving The Quality Of Financial Reports (An Analytical Study Of A Sample Of Auditors In External Audit Offices), Ayad Raheem Jalfan

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

The research mainly aims to clarify the role of the auditor’s professional specialization in improving the quality of financial reports. A questionnaire was directed to a group of accountants and external auditors working in audit offices to determine the role of auditors’ professional specialization in the quality of financial reports. In order to link the questionnaire to practical reality, the questionnaire was distributed. To accountants and auditors working in audit offices, )130( questionnaires were distributed, 108 questionnaires were retrieved,)22( questionnaires were considered damaged and not returned. The necessary data were collected and analyzed using the (SPSS) program, and the results …

Engaging Stakeholders In Public Sector Healthcare: Driving Transformation In The Eastern Cape Department Of Health's Re-Engineering Journey, Ella Rasmeni, Tando Rulashe, Hendrik Francois Conradie

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

The Eastern Cape Department of Health (ECDoH) is undergoing a re-engineering process to enhance service efficiency and address organizational inefficiencies, such as a bloated structure and excessive personnel costs. However, employees, as key stakeholders, were not meaningfully engaged in the process. This study investigates the role of stakeholder engagement in the ECDoH's transformative efforts, highlighting its impact on inclusivity, strategic alignment, and transparency. Grounded in a constructivist paradigm, this study adopts a qualitative approach using focus group discussions with 12 participants from diverse stakeholder groups. Thematic analysis revealed critical gaps in the ECDoH's engagement strategy, including the absence of a …