Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Creating Accountability With Interstate Cooperation: Unauthorized Water Use Enforcement On The Klamath River, Luke Fowler, Isaac Castellano

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

While lacking coercive power to compel enforcement, interstate compacts create accountability through multiple sources and layers connecting enforcement behavior to oversight. Using logistic regression, we test a model of accountability and enforcement of unauthorized water usage on the Klamath River. Findings indicate unauthorized water usage is far more likely to be reported and enforced on the Klamath River than on neighboring rivers in the same counties. Conclusions indicate the increased institutional layers of interstate compacts lead to more accountability and stringent enforcement and reporting of unauthorized water use.

After Coup, Will Zimbabwe See Democracy Or Dictatorship?, Steven Feldstein

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

For decades, Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe in a ruthless, even reckless manner. Over nearly 40 years, he turned the “jewel of Africa” into an economic basket case that’s seen inflation of up to 800 percent.

Overlapping Authorities In U.S. Energy Policy, Luke Fowler, Autumn T. Johnson

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

The authors argue overlapping intergovernmental authorities explain much of the complexities in U.S. energy policy, by accounting for limited powers, uncertain autonomy, cooperation and conflict, inter-state differences, and intersecting policies. Additionally, the authors identify implications of overlapping authority for policymakers, regulators, and industry leaders, including polycentric policymaking venues, direct and indirect policy effects, and energy system governance. Overlapping authority provides a framework for understanding intersecting roles of national, state, and local governments in energy policy.

Under The Trump Administration, Us Airstrikes Are Killing More Civilians, Steven Feldstein

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

When President Donald Trump took office in January, it was unclear whether the bombast from his campaign would translate into an aggressive new strategy against terrorism. At campaign rallies he pledged to “bomb the hell” out of the Islamic State. He openly mused about killing the families of terrorists, a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibits violence against noncombatants.

Interior Secretary Zinke Invokes Teddy Roosevelt As Model, But His Public Land Policies Don’T, John Freemuth

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendations to shrink four national monuments and allow fossil fuel development activities on others is just the latest sign that this administration sees natural resource use and extraction as the highest priority for public lands.

Tracking State Trends In Environmental Public Opinion, Luke Fowler

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Trends in state-level public opinion on the environment within the U.S. are examined, using data from the General Social Survey (GSS) from 1976 to 2008. Multilevel Regression and Post-Stratification (MRP) approach estimates public support for environmental spending at the U.S. state-level over three decades. This allows for an analysis of inter-state homogeneity of environmental public opinion, over the latter half of the twenty century. The findings indicate state-level trends mirror those at the national-level, but state-level public opinion is becoming more analogous over time.

Local Revenue Structure Under Economic Hardship: Reliance On Alternative Revenue Sources In California Counties, Sanghee Park

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article investigates how a worsening economy affects local revenue structure, and whether the impact is moderated by the fiscal relationship within higher levels of government. The revenue potential of nontax sources—fees/charges and fines/forfeitures—is considerable for local governments under economic hardship. With the panel data from California counties over a period of 11 years (2000-2010), this article shows that reliance on nontax revenue largely depends on the economic and fiscal factors that vary across counties, and the effect of economy is contingent on local dependence on intergovernmental transfers. Counties are likely to raise nontax revenue when the economy worsens and …

Cultural Penetration And Punctuated Policy Change: Explaining The Evolution Of U.S. Energy Policy, Luke Fowler, Tonya T. Neaves, Jessica N. Terman, Arthur G. Cosby

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Punctuated equilibrium theory (PET) suggests that the policy process is characterized by long periods of incremental change and short periods of punctuated change. The impetus for the latter is usually a focusing event that breaks open policy monopolies, allowing for major changes in legislative decision-making. While a burgeoning body of literature, a shortcoming in the PET literature is that it has yet to explain why focusing events and subsequent breakdowns in policy monopolies sometimes fail to result in punctuated policy. We integrate theories on cultural change with punctuated equilibrium to explain why focusing events do not always result in the …

Inside The Coal Industry’S Rhetorical Playbook, Steve Schwarze, Jennifer Peeples, Jen Schneider, Pete Bsumek

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

If citizens have heard anything about the upheaval in the U.S. coal industry, it is probably the insistence that President Obama and the EPA have waged a “war on coal.” This phrase is written into President-elect Donald Trump’s energy platform, which promises to “end the war on coal.”

Idaho: Carefully And Cautiously Progressing, Elizabeth D. Fredericksen, John Riggins

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

In Idaho, the FY18 budget drew upon the usual agency requests, executive recommendation, and legislative appropriation activities. However, less business-as-usual was the judicial branch involvement due to the post-sine die transmittal, and subsequent veto, of a bill to eliminate the sales tax on food. Citing the implications for General Fund revenue and fiscal challenges from extreme weather conditions in early 2017, Governor Otter vetoed the sales tax repeal sparking a legal challenge from legislators. The Idaho Supreme Court upheld the executive veto in a 4‒1 decision.

The robust individual income and sales tax collections reported at close of FY17 …