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2011

Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Selected Works

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Articles 1 - 30 of 560

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Quem Defende A Constituição?, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha Dec 2011

Quem Defende A Constituição?, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

A fase actual de ataque à Constituição parece ser a de legislar sem lhe prestar atenção, esperando que ninguém se lembre que existe, e ninguém levante questões de inconstitucionalidade. 2012 vai ser um ano em que se vão tirar as teimas sobre quem defende e quem não defende a Constituição. Feliz Ano Novo, com controlo da Constitucionalidade!

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A Return To Waterboarding?, Robert M. Pallitto Dec 2011

A Return To Waterboarding?, Robert M. Pallitto

Robert M Pallitto

No abstract provided.

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A Constituição Laboral Em Alto Risco, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha Dec 2011

A Constituição Laboral Em Alto Risco, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

A Constituição labora está a ser vítima de graves ataques. Já quase se pode ler o texto da nossa Constituição como se fora uma utopia de um país distante. Arriscamo-nos, por este caminho, a ter uma constituição nominal ou semântica, não normativa, não efectiva. E contudo ainda existe o texto, ainda existe o princípio da proibição do retrocesso, ainda existe um Tribunal Constitucional.

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Growing Disparities Among Greater Boston Communities During The 1990s, David Terkla Dec 2011

Growing Disparities Among Greater Boston Communities During The 1990s, David Terkla

David G. Terkla

During the 1990s, rich communities in the Greater Boston area got richer, and the richest made gains that were proportionally greater than the gains made by those communities only slightly less rich. At the same time, the poorest communities stayed poor, and in fact became more poor in comparison with communities slightly less poor. This dynamic is even more striking when the ten poorest communities are compared and contrasted with the ten wealthiest communities. Census figures show a rapidly expanding differential between the communities of the Greater Boston area. As a commonwealth, we should be considering policies designed to ameliorate …

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Clean Energy In Massachusetts: Already Strong, This Emerging Sector Is Poised For Greater Growth, David Levy, David Terkla Dec 2011

Clean Energy In Massachusetts: Already Strong, This Emerging Sector Is Poised For Greater Growth, David Levy, David Terkla

David G. Terkla

This article reviews Massachusetts’ clean energy sector in the context of the industry nationally and worldwide. We also suggest policy options to enhance the sector’s potential for the Massachusetts economy.

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From The Quadrangle To The River: Revitalizing The Heart Of Downtown Springfield, Mary F. Dehais, Yuanfang Gong, John E. Hulsey, Pamela Jo Landi, Adam G. Monroy, Seth A. Morrow, Alexander G. Seib, Jie Su, Kate A. Tooke, Owen M. White, Emily S. Wright, Kuang Xin, Xiao Zhou Dec 2011

From The Quadrangle To The River: Revitalizing The Heart Of Downtown Springfield, Mary F. Dehais, Yuanfang Gong, John E. Hulsey, Pamela Jo Landi, Adam G. Monroy, Seth A. Morrow, Alexander G. Seib, Jie Su, Kate A. Tooke, Owen M. White, Emily S. Wright, Kuang Xin, Xiao Zhou

jie su

This studio report explores community service learning in the graduate urban design studio taught in the in Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and instructed by Professor Frank Sleegers. The project will began with a visioning workshop, conducted to engage community members in the shaping of project goals and objectives within the project area of downtown Springfield. These findings were brought to the studio and guided the design process and outcomes. Five design teams developed five alternative master plans for the core area of downtown Springfield with focus on the revitalization of open …

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Current Research Projects Of The Public Health Pbrn Program, Glen P. Mays Dec 2011

Current Research Projects Of The Public Health Pbrn Program, Glen P. Mays

Glen Mays

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks Program supports research on the organization, financing, and delivery of public health services using the infrastructure of practice-based networks (PBRNs). A Public Health PBRN brings multiple public health agencies into collaboration with an academic research partner to design and conduct studies in real-world practice settings. The program supports research through several different mechanisms, including (1) large-scale Research Implementation Awards (RIAs) conducted by established networks; (2) Quick-Strike Research Fund (QSRF) awards that support short-term, time-sensitive studies on emerging issues; and (3) supplemental Research Acceleration and Capacity Expansion (RACE) awards designed to …

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Inconstitucionalidade Da Abolição De Feriados, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha Dec 2011

Inconstitucionalidade Da Abolição De Feriados, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Feriados celebrando datas essenciais do Estado ou da República são símbolos nacionais. Como tais, são matéria constitucional (materialmente constitucional) ainda que não constante do texto da Constituição. Abolir feriados destes, para mais sem sequer prévia discussão nacional, além de denotar um desprezo profundo pela cultura e pela História... é inconstitucional.

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De Keynes Aos Desafios Futuros, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha Dec 2011

De Keynes Aos Desafios Futuros, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Keynes anda esquecido pelos economistas da moda. É pena, porque o resultado, catastrófico, das políticas neoliberais está à vista. Entretanto, reflecte-se sobre como a velha esquerda moderada se deixou contaminar pelo vírus do neoliberalismo (e a velha direita social também, e mais ainda), havendo porém novas teorias e propostas no horizonte, como o capitalismo humanista, no Brasil e em Espanha, e a "next left", no Reino Unido. Será possível uma confluência coerente e frutuosa dos que não querem, de uns e de outros lados, um mundo só baseado na ganância e na aniquilação do mais fraco? É o grande desafio …

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Massachusetts’ Clean Energy Cluster, David Levy, David Terkla Dec 2011

Massachusetts’ Clean Energy Cluster, David Levy, David Terkla

David G. Terkla

The renewable energy industry in Massachusetts is identified through a “top-down” and “bottom-up” processes to determine the total employment and boundaries of this sector. Related sectors are also identified that are linked to the core renewable energy sector in the state and policies for enhancing this cluster are suggested.

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The Boston Mpo Planning Process And Low-Income Suburban-To-Suburban Transportation Needs, Phillip Granberry, Michael Landon, David Terkla Dec 2011

The Boston Mpo Planning Process And Low-Income Suburban-To-Suburban Transportation Needs, Phillip Granberry, Michael Landon, David Terkla

David G. Terkla

The rapid evolution in the Boston MPO transportation planning process is discussed as well as its particular application to the suburban-suburban transportation needs of low income individuals. The results of two experiments designed to improve access to transportation for low income suburban individuals are discussed and policy suggestions are made for improving such access.

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2010 Massachusetts Recreational Boater Survey: Final Report Submitted To The Massachusetts Ocean Partnership, Dan Hellin, Jack Wiggin, Kristin Uiterwyk, Kim Starbuck, Nicholas Napoli, David Terkla, Chris Watson, Anthony Roman, Leona Roach, Tim Welch Dec 2011

2010 Massachusetts Recreational Boater Survey: Final Report Submitted To The Massachusetts Ocean Partnership, Dan Hellin, Jack Wiggin, Kristin Uiterwyk, Kim Starbuck, Nicholas Napoli, David Terkla, Chris Watson, Anthony Roman, Leona Roach, Tim Welch

David G. Terkla

The Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan (Plan) completed in 2009 recognized recreational boating as an activity with “significant actual and prospective conflicts among multiple waterway uses in Massachusetts” and included the economic value of recreational boating as a key socio-economic indicator that will be used to inform coastal management. At the time of Plan completion, statistically robust recreational boating data were identified as an important need for comprehensive ocean planning. To fill this data gap, the 2010 Massachusetts Recreational Boater Survey gathered information on boating activity in Massachusetts’ coastal and ocean waters directly from recreational boaters. Researchers sent 10,000 surveys to …

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Uncertainty, Technical Change, And Policy Models, Erin Baker, Leon Clarke, Jeffrey Keisler, Ekundayo Shittu Dec 2011

Uncertainty, Technical Change, And Policy Models, Erin Baker, Leon Clarke, Jeffrey Keisler, Ekundayo Shittu

Jeffrey Keisler

Both climate change and technical change are uncertain. In this paper we show the importance of including both uncertainties when modeling for policy analysis. We then develop an approach for incorporating uncertainty of technical change into climate change policy analysis. We define and demonstrate a protocol for bottom-up expert assessments about prospects for technologies. We then describe a method for using such assessments to derive a probability distribution over future abatement curves, and to estimate random return functions for technological investment in different areas. Finally, we show how these analytic results could be used in a variety of energy-economic models …

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The Pension Factor: Assessing The Role Of Defined Benefit Plans In Reducing Elder Hardships, Frank Porell, Beth Almeida Dec 2011

The Pension Factor: Assessing The Role Of Defined Benefit Plans In Reducing Elder Hardships, Frank Porell, Beth Almeida

Frank Porell

Traditional defined benefit (DB) pension plans have long been an important source of income for elder households seeking to maintain a middle-class standard of living after a lifetime of work. Under traditional DB plans, retirees receive a guaranteed, regular stream of income after retirement that continues until death. The monthly pension benefit is typically based on years of service to the employer, age, and salary history. Retirees also have the option to elect a joint-and-survivor benefit, to ensure that pension payments continue to a surviving spouse. DB plan participation rates among private sector American workers have sharply decreased from about …

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Risk Factors For Driving Cessation Vary By Race And Ethnicity, Elizabeth Dugan, Frank Porell, Chae Man Lee Dec 2011

Risk Factors For Driving Cessation Vary By Race And Ethnicity, Elizabeth Dugan, Frank Porell, Chae Man Lee

Frank Porell

Driving is related to our identity and independence as well as allowing us to get needed goods, services, and social opportunities that enrich daily life. Yet with increasing age, the risk for developing threats to medical fitness to drive increases. Driving cessation is related to a long list of negative outcomes, such as: depression, social isolation, diminished access to health care, and diminished quality of life. We investigated risks for driving cessation, paying close attention to racial differences. This study used data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), 1998-2008. The study included N=46, 528 older people (age 65 and …

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Risk Factors For Driving Cessation Vary By Race And Ethnicity, Elizabeth Dugan, Frank Porell, Chae Man Lee Dec 2011

Risk Factors For Driving Cessation Vary By Race And Ethnicity, Elizabeth Dugan, Frank Porell, Chae Man Lee

Elizabeth Dugan

Driving is related to our identity and independence as well as allowing us to get needed goods, services, and social opportunities that enrich daily life. Yet with increasing age, the risk for developing threats to medical fitness to drive increases. Driving cessation is related to a long list of negative outcomes, such as: depression, social isolation, diminished access to health care, and diminished quality of life. We investigated risks for driving cessation, paying close attention to racial differences. This study used data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), 1998-2008. The study included N=46, 528 older people (age 65 and …

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Fun With Numbers: Disclosing Risk To Individual Investors, Christian A. Weller Dec 2011

Fun With Numbers: Disclosing Risk To Individual Investors, Christian A. Weller

Christian Weller

This paper discusses the need for better information on investment risks. The information should be relevant, concise, and accessible to individual investors. More and better information on factors that are likely to influence an investment’s performance and investors’ decisions should eventually lead to better investment decisions – more savings and higher retirement incomes. This paper presents a number of ways to disclose risk to individual investors. There are three numerical and three visual representations to risk. The discussion centers on the pros and cons of each risk representation. All risk descriptions show relevant information, are concise, and more or less …

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States To The Rescue: Policy Options For State Government To Promote Private Sector Retirement Savings, Christian A. Weller, Amy Helburn Dec 2011

States To The Rescue: Policy Options For State Government To Promote Private Sector Retirement Savings, Christian A. Weller, Amy Helburn

Christian Weller

We provide an overview of retirement plan proposals that could be implemented at the state level. All aim to increase participation in retirement savings, mainly by lowering the cost of doing so and possibly by offering some employer or government matches to employee contributions. The proposals vary widely on how much risk employees are exposed to. Some proposals leave most of the risks of saving for retirement – investment, market, and longevity risk – with the employee, while others try to eliminate them all. The tools of risk management range from well-diversified index funds and default investments to required offers …

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Demographic Analysis Of Recovery Act Supported Jobs In Massachusetts, Quarters 1 And 2, 2010, David Sparks, Paige Ransford, Carol Hardy-Fanta, Christian Weller, Meryl Thomson, Robert Turner Dec 2011

Demographic Analysis Of Recovery Act Supported Jobs In Massachusetts, Quarters 1 And 2, 2010, David Sparks, Paige Ransford, Carol Hardy-Fanta, Christian Weller, Meryl Thomson, Robert Turner

Christian Weller

Massachusetts policy makers decided to go beyond existing ARRA federal reporting requirements and collect additional data in order to gauge the effectiveness of ARRA’s fiscal policy by counting the number of individuals who have received an ARRA-funded paycheck. In addition, policy makers wanted to look at some of the demographic characteristics of this population. This report provides an in-depth analysis of the data that the MA Recovery Office collected during the first and second quarters of 2010, with a particular focus on job creation and retention by race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, and geographic location. Highlights of the report include: …

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Driving Qi With Research: Findings From Public Health Pbrns, Glen Mays Dec 2011

Driving Qi With Research: Findings From Public Health Pbrns, Glen Mays

Glen Mays

Public health agencies are increasingly experimenting with quality improvement (QI) strategies designed to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of their efforts. Does QI work in public health, and if so for whom and under what circumstances? What QI strategies work best for which types of public health process failures, and at what cost? Research underway through the Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRN) Program is examining these types of questions to build an evidence base for public health QI.

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Constituição, Polícia Da Dívida?, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha Dec 2011

Constituição, Polícia Da Dívida?, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Depois de em Portugal, Espanha e Alemanha (pelo menos) se falar há algum bom tempo no assunto – não sabemos de onde surgiu a primeira inspiração, mas tanto monta – , no início de Dezembro de 2011 veio da União Europeia a magna necessidade, logo secundada pelo Primeiro-ministro português, de introduzir expressamente na Constituição (já vamos ver que poderá não ser tanto assim) limites ao endividamento do Estado. Vamos fazer mais uma revisão constitucional ?

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Senior Transportation Abstracts: A Focus On Options, Helen Kerschner, Nina M. Silverstein Dec 2011

Senior Transportation Abstracts: A Focus On Options, Helen Kerschner, Nina M. Silverstein

Nina Silverstein

This collection of abstracts represents a publication of importance for understanding the needs, challenges, solutions, and/or every day issues related to senior transportation services. While several of the abstracts include information about senior driver safety, the collection’s primary purpose is to present a holistic approach to transportation options for older adults. Such a collection is timely because, although the practice of providing transportation to older adults is not new, research and preparation of practical informational and technical materials related to older adult transportation service needs and service delivery are quite recent.

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Assessing Stakeholder Opinions Of Medical Review Of Impaired Drivers And Fitness To Drive: Recommendations For Massachusetts, Nina Silverstein, Kelli Barton Dec 2011

Assessing Stakeholder Opinions Of Medical Review Of Impaired Drivers And Fitness To Drive: Recommendations For Massachusetts, Nina Silverstein, Kelli Barton

Nina Silverstein

Driving is the main mode of travel for Americans age 65 and older, and although older adults are generally found to be safe drivers, aging often brings about functional limitations and an increase in medications that can impede safe driving and fitness to drive (Rosenbloom, 2003; Kissinger, 2008; Adler & Silverstein, 2008). Effective licensing policies and Medical Advisory Board practices are critical components in identifying medically at-risk drivers and may even have a role in the transition to alternative transportation options; yet, states vary greatly in their approach to licensing and renewal practices and in the utilization, composition, and function …

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Public Input For Municipal Policymaking: Engagement Methods And Their Impact On Trust And Confidence, Alan Tomkins, Lisa M. Pytlik Zillig, Mitchel Herian, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Joseph A. Hamm Dec 2011

Public Input For Municipal Policymaking: Engagement Methods And Their Impact On Trust And Confidence, Alan Tomkins, Lisa M. Pytlik Zillig, Mitchel Herian, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Joseph A. Hamm

Mitchel Norman Herian

Municipalities across the country use various methods of public input to inform managers and elected policymakers about citizen’s preferences and perspectives regarding budget matters or performance measures. One benefit of actively involving the public on key governmental decisions is the belief that it enhances the public’s trust and/or confidence in government. Does it make a difference in the public’s confidence assessments which public engagement technique is used? If enhancing the public’s trust/confidence is a specific objective of a public engagement, which technique is to be preferred? This article presents public trust and confidence data we have been collecting as part …

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Citizen Satisfaction Survey Data: A Mode Comparison Of The Derived Importance–Performance Approach, Mitchel Norman Herian, Alan J. Tomkins Dec 2011

Citizen Satisfaction Survey Data: A Mode Comparison Of The Derived Importance–Performance Approach, Mitchel Norman Herian, Alan J. Tomkins

Mitchel Norman Herian

The purpose of this article is to provide evidence regarding the comparability of results provided by two survey methods—a random phone survey and a nonrandom online survey—using the derived importance–performance approach to examine service satisfaction data at the local level. Specifically, we measure whether nonprobability opt-in online survey results produce results that are convergent or divergent to random phone survey results. The findings show that the phone and online survey techniques yield divergent results when simple univariate statistical techniques are employed but produce similar results when the data are analyzed using the more advanced derived importance approach. Though preliminary, the …

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Review Of Studies In Public Opinion: Attitudes, Nonattitudes, Measurement Error, And Change , Mitchel Herian Dec 2011

Review Of Studies In Public Opinion: Attitudes, Nonattitudes, Measurement Error, And Change , Mitchel Herian

Mitchel Norman Herian

The editors of this book are Willem E. Saris, professor of political science at the University of Amsterdam and teacher at the ESADE business school of Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, and Paul M. Sniderman, Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor of Public Policy and professor of political science at Stanford University. In Studies in Public Opinion: Attitudes, Nonattitudes, Measurement Error, and Change, they have brought together a collection of research that deals with the problems that consistently seem to plague public opinion research. The book, which is accessible to those with a keen interest in, and understanding of, public opinion research, …

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Local Budgeting And Public Participation: Contextual Predictors Of State Laws Mandating Public Input, Mitchel Norman Herian Dec 2011

Local Budgeting And Public Participation: Contextual Predictors Of State Laws Mandating Public Input, Mitchel Norman Herian

Mitchel Norman Herian

This paper examines the political, economic, and institutional variables associated with the presence of state laws that mandate the use of public input in local budgeting. The results show that political and institutional variables can help explain the presence of such laws, but the relationships between variables of interest shift depending on whether laws aimed at cities or counties are the focal point and on which types of public input methods are under consideration. The implications for both theories of public participation in budgeting and intergovernmental relations are discussed within.

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Reducing Failure To Appear In Nebraska: A Field Study, Mitchel N. Herian, Brian H. Bornstein Dec 2011

Reducing Failure To Appear In Nebraska: A Field Study, Mitchel N. Herian, Brian H. Bornstein

Mitchel Norman Herian

Failure to appear (FTA) rates in the U.S. can be as high as 25-30% depending on jurisdiction and type of offense. These failures to appear are costly for the criminal justice system as they can lead to inefficient use of time and resources, and FTA can also be costly for defendants by leading to additional court dates, enhanced penalties, and even collateral consequences such as suddenly missing work while detained on the FTA charge (even though the original offense did not result in a detention). What’s more, minorities are more likely to fail to appear than Whites, raising a race …

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Sharing Health Records Electronically: The Views Of Nebraskans, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Mitchel Herian Dec 2011

Sharing Health Records Electronically: The Views Of Nebraskans, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Mitchel Herian

Mitchel Norman Herian

In November of 2008, the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center implemented a public input project to gather information from Nebraskans about electronic sharing of medical information. One hundred and sixty eight Nebraskans completed an online or paper copy survey, and 34 of those survey respondents also participated in a deliberative discussion. Comfortable with Sharing Medical Information Electronically • Nebraskans have positive views about electronic sharing of medical information. • Nebraskans understand the benefits of electronic health information exchange. • Nebraskans have concerns about who should have the authority to access their electronic health information. Experienced with Information Technology and …

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Examining Public Perceptions Of Career And Technical Education In Nebraska, Mitchel Herian Dec 2011

Examining Public Perceptions Of Career And Technical Education In Nebraska, Mitchel Herian

Mitchel Norman Herian

KEY FINDINGS Perceptions of Career and Technical Education (CTE) Courses o The Nebraska public believes that CTE prepares students for careers and college, and that CTE courses are just as important as traditional academic subjects. o However, substantial proportions of Nebraskans believe that CTE students are not as respected as students who take more traditionally academic courses. Career Awareness and Exploration o Most Nebraskans believe that students should begin to learn about potential careers in middle school and that activities such as job shadowing and internships should be made available in high school. o Large proportions of respondents said they …

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