Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The War Against Joblessness: U.S. Intervention In State Labor Markets In Response To Economic Recessions, Latasha Y. Chaffin

Dissertations

In comparative political economy, nations whose governing institutions direct economic behavior towards the market are classified as liberal market economies, whereas those nations that direct economic behavior toward coordinated efforts between stakeholders, often amongst business, labor and the government, are categorized as coordinated market economies (Amberg 2008; Hall and Soskice 2001). In spite of the United States’ classification as a liberal market economy, during the recent global recession from 2007 to 2009, and in other critical times of economic decline such as the 1990–91 and 2001 recessions, the national government and state governments have mobilized their resources in order to …

Impacts And Feasibility Of The Us And The Eu Sustainability Criteria On Existing Land-Use Practices, Krissana Treesilvattanakul

Open Access Dissertations

Several studies have examined the land use and economic consequences of national and multi-national biofuel policies. They explored the impacts of biofuels mandates mainly based on the quantitative biofuel targets. However, the recently updated renewable policies of the United States and the European Union, which are the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and EU Directive 2009/28 of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) both place restrictions on land that can be used to produce biofuel, and these restrictions are generally known as sustainability criteria. This research aims to determine to what extent sustainability criteria are actually binding; that is, would they …

Public Pensions And Debt In The State Of Maine, Ryan Knaus

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Maine has taken important steps in recent years to reduce indebtedness and adequately fund their Public Employee Pension System (MainePERS), and is well-positioned relative to other U.S. states. The challenge for the State is to continue financing MainePERS and existing UALs with the same commitment, diligence and prudence.

School Choice, Opportunity And Access: A Geographic Analysis Of Public School Enrollment In New Orleans, Jill Zimmerman

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of the study is to identify the extent to which the current school choice policy in New Orleans has afforded students in underserved neighborhoods or city planning districts the opportunity to attend quality schools elsewhere in the city. Though all students in New Orleans have access to schools outside their neighborhood, more than two-thirds (68%) of public school students attended a school within their planning district or in the adjacent planning district in the 2011-12 school year. In staying close to home, just one-fifth (22 percent) of students attended a quality school. A clear relationship existed between …

Indigenous Women, The State, And Policy Change: Evidence From Bolivia, 1994-2012, Melissa Camille Buice

Doctoral Dissertations

In Bolivia, indigenous women have contributed to President Morales’ and MAS (Movement Toward Socialism) electoral victories and are exercising an emerging influence on the government’s decisions on policy. This contrasts with their experiences with failed policy efforts prior to the early 2000s, which presents an interesting puzzle for social movement theories. These theories argue that the language of repertoires and framing processes, resources of social movements, along with structural opportunities are important causes of social movement success. Research on social movement outcomes is needed to understand indigenous women’s changing relationship with society and the government. As indigenous women’s influence on …

Managing Social Security Disability & Other Public Benefits: Development Of A Guide For Consumers And Providers, Stephanie L. Derochers

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

One in five Americans has a disability, making it the largest minority group in the U.S. (Soffer, McDonald, & Blanck, 2010). In 2011, 13.4 million working-aged adults received a disability cash benefit from the Social Security Administration (Kregel, 2012).

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is the federal agency responsible for managing, executing and overseeing retirement, survivor, old-age and disability benefits. There are over 1,500 Social Security offices and over 65,000 employees nationwide (SSA, 2013). SSA manages at least five disability benefit programs: Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Disabled Widow(er) Benefit (DWB), Childhood Disability Benefit (CDB), though …

Incentives For Distributed Generation In California: The Rise Of Third-Party Solar Development, Joshua M. Propp

Pomona Senior Theses

There are a series of state and federal incentives in California to encourage the installation of distributed generation (DG) renewable energy, largely photovoltaic (PV). This thesis explores the policies behind the incentives, namely the Federal Investment Tax Credit, California Solar Initiative, and Net Energy Metering requirements. Discussion is informed by environmental policy tools, as well as business models that have acted to increase accessibility to these investment-intensive projects. Underlying this analysis is the theme of a shifting energy paradigm, with distributed generation spreading political, economic, and electric power.

Political Consequences Of Cross-Border Labor Mobility In Luxembourg, Jessawynne A Parker

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Opportunities For Munjoy Hill, Anne-Michelle Arless

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Keeping the elderly in their own homes is challenging. A volunteer lead group of Munjoy Hill residents have united to form "circle of friends" to connect those within the community in need with those in the community who can offer a helping hand.

Moving Beyond Title Ix: An Evaluation Of The Comprehensiveness And Accessibility Of Policies And Procedures For Preventing And Responding To Gender Based Violence, Alyssa Mullins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examines the gender based violence policies and programs of large, public universities in Florida. Current literature argues that preventing and responding to gender based violence in institutions of higher education requires comprehensive and ecological techniques at the individual, interpersonal, community, and societal level. In recent years, various institutions and agencies have showed increasing administrative commitment to addressing these issues. Futures Without Violence, formerly named Family Violence Prevention Fund, is a private organization that has established a set of guidelines and recommendations to aid IHEs in their response and prevention of gender based violence, intended to exceed federal …

Go Fish: An Analysis Of Economic Rents In Panamanian Fisheries Against Ecosystem Service Values, David Glassner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Global demand of fish for consumption in developing nations is expected to continue to rise in the near future, putting pressure on stocks that are already overexploited. In the territorial waters of Panama there is a constant struggle between commercial vessels with high yield, subsistence fishermen trying to feed a remote village, and ecosystem services struggling to sustain themselves. These services are the direct and indirect benefits received by the population in the form of food, raw materials, nutrient cycling, and disaster regulation. They are being degraded by illegal and unregulated fishing, bottom trawlers raking the benthos and destroying coral …

Constructing Veterans : Women Military Veterans, Va And Society, Cecilia Ferradino

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Despite having honorably served in the U.S. military, many women do not see themselves as veterans. In so doing, they may miss out on much-needed benefits to which they have rightfully earned and deserve. But, the question goes beyond benefit claiming. If women who served in the military do not see themselves as veterans they are also relinquishing power that comes with membership in a politically and socially esteemed group. If women who served in the armed forces do not see themselves as veteran, then what is a veteran? Therefore, this research centers on the question: who, or what entity, …

Rejecting The Rejecters: The Latent Effect Of Policy On Subculture, Ethan Maxwell Higgins

Online Theses and Dissertations

Specifically, this thesis is a look into rap lyrics, subculture, policy, reflexivity and the formation of the social self. In a broader vision, this thesis attempts to mold a theoretical pathway that illuminates where our cultural products "come from," not historically, but socially. Through the vehicle of rap lyrics I attempt to show that there is a historical and social structure that molds, limits and contains the very possibility of what music and lyrics can come to be. I try to show that the decisions we make on a national scale effects groups which have little political power, effectively recreating …

Parenting, Peregrination, And Politics: A Study Of Family Policy And Immigration In West European Welfare States, Jeremy Lee Jackson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The title of this thesis is "Parenting, Peregrination, and Politics: A Study of Family Policy and Immigration in West European Welfare States." The author's name is J.L. Jackson, a candidate for a Master of Science degree in cross-disciplinary studies (foci in sociology and political science) at Minnesota State University, Mankato, located in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. This thesis was published in 2013. This writing seeks to answer the question "does an increase in immigration cause family policy spending and coverage in advanced West European democracies to expand?" Qualitative methods, including content analysis, as well as quantitative analysis of existing data …

Operation New Dawn: Rhetoric Or Real Policy Change?, Josiah Thomas Barrett

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Scholars have long explored questions concerning presidential foreign policy decision making as well as military performance in conducting operations. Studies have covered a wide variety of topics, including the organizational dynamics of the military bureaucracy, the effectiveness of military operations, how presidential rhetorical strategies influence the public agenda in foreign affairs, and, in turn, how public opinion influences presidential foreign policy decision-making. Despite these advances, there remains a notable gap in the literature with respect to the relationship between presidential foreign policy objectives and military bureaucratic responsiveness. In particular, when presidents use rhetoric to introduce key shifts in foreign policy …

Login To Learn: A Content Analysis Of Southeast Asian Policies On Technology And Education, Laura D. Pasley

Master's Theses

In the following thesis, using Aucoin's (2011) theoretical framework, I juxtapose the discourses neoliberalism and humanitarian "access" as they relate to describing the potential outcomes of ICT adoption in education. Through a content analysis, I sought to answer the research question: To what extent have the discourses of neoliberalism and "access" used in regional ASEAN policies influenced ICT policymaking at the national level of its member states? The findings demonstrated a slight difference between ICT policies published prior to the 2011 ASEAN policy, but those published "after" were all also published in 2011 which may point to forces outside of …

On Obama Administration Gun Policy With Continual Reference To The Multiple Streams Model, Michael Hristakopoulos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Multiple Streams model developed by John Kingdon (1995) and Nikolaos Zahariadis (2007) provides a valuable framework for understanding the nature of policy change. This investigation draws extensively upon the Multiple Streams framework in order to understand the development of gun-control policy initiatives under President Barack Obama. The investigation uses a case-study approach with in-depth analysis of four different mass-shooting events that took place in the United States between 2009 and 2012. Reconstruction of the shooting events and detailed parsing of the Obama administration’s official responses to each incident, when viewed through the Multiple Streams lens, clearly explain why Obama’s …

Second-Class Families: The Challenges And Strategies Of Mixed-Status Immigrant Families, Diana Maritza Guelespe

Dissertations

The most recent peak in migration has involved large numbers of undocumented people and much of the sociological scholarship on immigration explores their lives as individuals and how they stay connected to their family across borders, but there is little research about the new phenomenon of mixed-status immigrant families-- families with at least one unauthorized immigrant and one U.S. citizen--or how their families face the looming risk of separation. The purpose of this dissertation is to describe the experiences and challenges these families confront. Why has there been a rise in mixed-status immigrant families? How does the relative permanence of …

The Impact Of An Alcohol Deterrence Policy On College Students' Behavior, Matthew Douglas Defore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The university under study developed an alcohol control policy in 2006 in response to a string of tragic alcohol-related deaths. At the time of the study, the policy had been in operation for six years with a growing number of student sanctions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the university's alcohol control policy to determine its deterrence impact on students. By surveying students who have been sanctioned under the alcohol control policy, the researcher sought to gain insight on the strengths and weaknesses of the policy as well as to use these responses as an opportunity to recommend …

Developing A Cohesive Urban Agriculture Policy For Burlington, Vt, Alison Nihart

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

A growing interest in urban food production has prompted many North American cities to revise their municipal policies regarding agricultural activities. In March 2011, the City Council of Burlington, VT, created the Urban Agriculture Task Force to investigate and recommend policies to provide city officials with tools to effectively govern urban agriculture. In coordination with the Task Force as a community partner, I used a governance framework and participatory action research (PAR) to analyze: (1) the needs of local stakeholders, including urban agriculture practitioners, the general Burlington community, and government officials; (2) the policy tools available to the City of …