Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

United States Vs. China In Africa: The Policy Battle For Hearts And Minds And The Difference It Makes, Nicholas O. Alozie, Kathy Thomas

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Using Pew’s 2013 Global Attitudes Survey data, we probe whether China is beating the U.S. in the battle for Africa’s hearts and minds, whose hearts and minds are being won over, and the potential import for African and Western strategic interests in the region. We find that Africans acknowledge both countries’ contributions as partners in development, have favorable opinions of both countries, and welcome strong ties with both; however, when the choices are stark, their strongest allegiance is to the U.S. Most Africans believe that China will dislodge the U.S. as the world’s superpower. Yet, if China’s African adventure is …

Learning In The Public Sector: Evaluation Of The Ssa Title Iv-E Intervention Program Of Virginia Department Of Social Services, Mohan P. Pokharel, Niraj Poudyal, Nabin Baral

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Organizational learning has attracted both scholars and practitioners for decades, but the public sector has rarely been the focus for empirical investigation. We conducted a summative evaluation of the Social Security Act Title IV-E program to take stock of organizational learning in local level public sector service organizations in Virginia. We chose this case for scholarly investigation because it affords an opportunity to uniquely contribute to discovering learning constraints in public sector organizations. We used mixed methods to collect quantitative data on the monthly penetration rate (ratio of federal to state funding) from 2001 to 2006 and qualitative data generated …

Capacity To Implement Performance Measurement In Small Nonprofits, Claire C. Knox, Xiaohu Wang

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

The use of performance measurement systems in the nonprofit sector has gained momentum in the last decade; however, little is known about the implementation of these systems in small to midsized nonprofit organizations. By performing a pathway case study of nine nonprofit organizations, we apply a capacity-building framework to examine performance measurement implementations designed by a performance management consulting team. This study offers a detailed description, in some cases using nonprofit leaders’ own words, on how this approach may work in small to midsized nonprofits. The results are used to develop research propositions on leadership, technical competency, feasible execution, and …

Neighborhoods Of Opportunity: Developing An Operational Definition For Planning And Policy Implementation, Kelly L. Patterson, Robert Mark Silverman, Li Yin, Laiyun Wu

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

This article synthesizes existing literature to examine the emerging concept of neighborhoods of opportunity and places it in the context of past efforts to define neighborhood opportunity. Place-based and people-based approaches to urban revitalization and community development are linked to this concept. The place-based approach focuses on promoting inner-city revitalization in order to create neighborhoods of opportunity and the people-based approach focuses on connecting people to opportunities that already exist in the regions where they live. These approaches are examined in relation to how they influence emerging models for siting affordable housing in both distressed inner-cities and more opportunity rich …

Editor's Introduction: Urban Planning, Performance Measurement, Evaluation And Policy Implementation Strategies, Andrew I.E. Ewoh

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

The Journal of Public Management and Social Policy concludes its twenty-second volume with a collection of articles that examine issues pertaining to urban planning, performance measurement, evaluation and policy implementation strategies. It begins with a discussion on the emerging concept of neighborhoods of opportunity in urban planning and concludes with a continuing dialogue on the regulatory fog of opioid treatment programs in multi-layered and complex enforcement environments.

Sustainable Development Goals Worth Sharing, Erika Simpson

Political Science Publications

The international community has agreed upon another set of goals for the next 15 years. On the table are no less than 169 objectives and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new aspirations are summarized and the merits and demerits of further elaboration and measurement including country-specific deadlines and targets are discussed. The hefty budget to achieve all 17 goals is estimated at more than $4 trillion US a year. North American policy-makers need to be aware of humankind’s shared aspirations as they consider the new and expensive SDGs. Foreign aid is one of the instruments of North American foreign …

Hostage At The Table By George Kohlrieser: A Critical Book Review, Bimal Dahal, Muhammad Ilyas, Erika Krajcovicova, Myriam Marcuello-Lopez, Abdulah Saleh, Shadi Sheikh Saraf

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

Being a hostage impedes. One must strive to get out of the hostage mindset and situation to realize peace. This review analyzes George Kohlrieser's approaches from peacebuilding perspective.

George Kohlrieser is a professor of leadership and organizational behavior, psychologist, and veteran hostage negotiator. In his book Hostage at the Table, he contends that conflict resolution is not difficult if we understand how human self-esteem operates. He believes that deep within humans reside slumbering powers that most of us do not even activate. These latent powers can revolutionize our lives if aroused and put into action.

In the following pages, …

The West And The Rest Of Us: Islamic Militancy, Refugee Crisis And The Migration Wave Towards Europe, Simeon Onyemachi Hilary Alozieuwa Ph.D.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

The recent migration wave to Europe from the Arab world thrusts to the fore for serious discourse, an issue the world has hitherto shied away from: the gradual Islamization of the world beginning with the west. The issue is not the Islamic faith itself. Certain elements of the faithful are imbued with hegemonic-domination tendencies marked by the excessive obsession to obliterate others’ cultures. This paper views the Euro/West-ward movement of the Muslim Arab refugees/migrants as a grand strategy for the Islamization agenda; the smuggled Islamists militias are its foot-soldiers. The West needs to interrogate its overextended human rights regimes.

Why Adopt E-Voting? Study On Village Leader Elections In Musi Rawas, South Sumatera, Ikhsan Darmawan, Nurul Nurhandjati

Jurnal Politik

This article elaborates the e-voting adoption in village leader elections held in Musi Rawas Regency, South Sumatera, during the period of 2013 to early 2015. This paper aims at answering the question of why the government of Musi Rawas has adopted e-voting in the village leader elections. More specifically, this paper aims at identifying the motives underlying the policy to adopt e-voting in village leader elections in Musi Rawas. This article is based on the field research held between February and March, 2015. The research employs the qualitative approach. Data is collected through in-depth interview, observation, and news collected from …

U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings On Korea During The 113th Congress 2013-2014: Overseeing Multifaceted Aspects Of Washington's Peninsular Interests, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Numerous U.S. government agencies are involved in developing and implementing U.S. policy toward Korean Peninsula events, trends, and developments. Those studying U.S. government policies toward this region need to pay particular attention to the role played by U.S. Congressional committees in this policymaking. Congressional committees are responsible for approving new legislation, revising existing legislation, funding U.S. government programs and conducting oversight of these programs. This work examines Congressional committee hearings and debate during the 113th Congress (2013–2014) and reveals that multiple Congressional committees with varying jurisdictions seek to shape U.S. government Korean Peninsula policy and that this policymaking covers more …

Geopolitics Of The 2015 British Defense White Paper And Its Historical Predecessors, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

On November 23, 2015 the United Kingdom (UK) released a defense white paper detailing its national security strategic objectives. This work examines the geopolitical, economic, and strategic implications of this document and compares it with recent and historical defense white paper documents issued by the British government. It scrutinizes the text of these documents and relevant scholarly literature analyzing them while also examining the national security threats facing the UK at the time of their issuance and assesses whether the 2015 document will be supported with requisite political will, military personnel, and financial support to carry out its objectives

The Ombatse Crisis In Nigeria: Background, Recent Developments And Possible Solutions, Simeon Onyemachi Hilary Alozieuwa Ph.D.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

This paper focuses on the hegemonic politics between the Eggon and Hausa/Fulani ethnic groups in Nasarawa, North-Central Nigeria, which eventually erupted into the Ombatse crisis of May 2013- a precursor to the 2015 general elections. It addresses four research questions seeking to unravel whether or not: (1a) the crisis truly reflects a spiritual revivalist agenda as projected by the Ombatse promoters or merely espouses Eggon rejection of Muslim-Hausa/Fulani ethnic hegemony- mirroring broadly the identity, hegemonic and exclusionary politics in the area cum the larger Nigerian society;(b) the Eggon-Hausa-Fulani feud has the potential to exacerbate the sectarian strife in Nigeria’s northern …

Editor's Note, Padraig O’Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

Along with two literary essays, the articles in this issue of the journal address local, national, and international public policy questions. On the literary level, one article discusses whether arguments from an older era over a white writer’s presumption that he can accurately articulate black voices and experiences, itself an unconscious bias, can throw light on racial issues roiling college campuses and other arenas of public discourse today; the second, more mellow and reflective, ponders the incongruities and congruities that surface when the author explores how the meaning of the word home depends on one’s personality as he prepares to …

Internal Displacement In Iraq: Internally Displaced Persons And Disputed Territory, Nancy Riordan

New England Journal of Public Policy

The protracted conflict in Iraq has led to one of the highest internal displacements of people worldwide. With data from the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix and other sources, geographic information system methods were applied to investigate the quantitative and spatial characteristics of Iraq’s internally displaced persons (IDPs). Based on this analysis, significant numbers of IDPs were found to be displaced among the disputed territories of northern Iraq. The findings of this analysis, when paired with additional research, poses serious complications not only for the security of Iraq’s IDPs but also for the country. The proliferation of militias …

Foundations Of U.S. Stature And Security In The World, Winston Langley

New England Journal of Public Policy

How may the stature and security of the United States, so passionately a concern for many and so profoundly important to the character and direction of our emerging global society, be pursued responsibly? This question is the burden of this article, in which the author examines and rejects a number of policy options to the challenges he sees Washington now facing. He rejects these policy options because he finds them miscast, incomplete, counterproductive, or representative of symptoms rather than causes. He suggests, instead, how the United States might advance its interests and the global interests and predicts a rather unwelcoming …

Predicting Genocide And Mass Atrocities, Ernesto Verdeja

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article examines several current risk assessment and early warning models to predict genocide and mass atrocities. Risk assessment (RA) concerns a country’s long­-term structural conditions (regime type, state-led discrimination, etc.) that determine overall risk for atrocities. Early warning (EW) focuses on short/midterm dynamics that can serve as triggers. The article evaluates contemporary RA and EW forecast modeling, and asks: How well can we predict mass atrocities and genocide? What are the strengths and limitations to current predictive modeling? Part I examines several quantitative (statistical) RA models and identifies several strengths and limitations in current research. Part II investigates a …

Book Review: The Structural Prevention Of Mass Atrocities: Understanding Risk And Resilience, Rhiannon S. Neilsen

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Scholarship on the structural prevention of genocide and mass atrocities is, for the most part, saturated with identifying the ‘root causes’ of deadly violence. Conversely, the causes of peace and the processes that de-escalate tensions – in effect, “what goes right” – remain comparatively under researched. In his book The Structural Prevention of Mass Atrocities, Stephen McLoughlin contends that positioning prevention simply on identifying and ameliorating risk factors erroneously assumes a linear inevitability between cause and outcome, and thus “fails to explain why some at-risk countries experience mass atrocities, yet others do not” (3). McLoughlin convincingly advocates an …

Interpreting China’S New Urban Spaces: State, Market, And Society In Action, Shenjing He, Lily Kong, George C. S. Lin

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Chinese urbanism has long historical roots and has profoundly influenced world civilizations. Yet, the Chinese city has not, until very recently, attracted sustained or intense global attention. In the post-reform era, especially after 1992, the scale and speed of China’s urbanization, and the intricacy of its dynamics and socio-spatial consequences have dwarfed those of other countries in the world. The latest reform era of urban China is characterized by a renewed and thriving urbanism, which manifests itself in the sheer scale of new urban space (re)production and the intricate interrelationships among the state, market, and society. The proliferation of new …

The Politics Of Middle Class Decline And Growth In Industrialized Democracies, 1980 To 2010, Young-Hwan Byun

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research explains why some industrialized democracies have experienced middle class decline while others have experienced middle class growth since the 1980s. The prevailing political science literature based on the median voter theory predicts that middle class decline should not occur in democracies, whereas economic theories fail to explain national variation of middle class decline by attributing the decline to common developments such as globalization or technological change. I analyze data from the Luxembourg Income Study Database, the Comparative Welfare States Dataset, and the Comparative Welfare Entitlement Dataset, and demonstrate a significant partisan effect on middle class decline. I argue …

The Dream Defaulted: Foreclosure, Crisis, And Hope In Baltimore, Maryland, And Detroit, Michigan, Heidi M. Rafferty-Reijm

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the United States, the late 2000s were a time of crisis that tested many urban decision-makers. The recession that started in 2007 was defined by a severe crash in the housing market and the proliferation of mortgage foreclosures across the country. Foreclosures occurred in urban, suburban, and rural communities, but had a particularly devastating impact on larger, older cities and their low and moderate-income neighborhoods. These cities had been dealing with economic and population decline for half a century. In many of their urban neighborhoods, foreclosures affected as many as one in four households and added yet another challenge …

Extending The Fundamental Right Of Marriage To Same-Sex Couples: The United States Supreme Court Decision In Obergefell V. Hodges, Donald Hermann

College of Law Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Mysterious Case Of The Islamic State Organization (Iso) Smiling Martyr--Solved, Paul Kamolnick

ETSU Faculty Works

Excerpt: For a mere Muslim mortal, Allah’s granting of martyrdom (Shahada) is the pinnacle of spiritual achievement. The martyr (Shahid) is granted unique privileges among which are the right to bypass the moral interrogation meted out to determine after death whether one is spiritually fit; the complete freedom from all anguish, pain, and suffering caused by one’s wounds as one immediately traverses into the highest of seven heavens; the right to intercede and request divine favors on behalf of seventy of one’s loved one’s; the enjoyment of exclusive sexual privileges with seventy-two virgins; and finally, …

How The Federal Government Went From Realtor To Landlord In The American West, Randall K. Wilson

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Disputes over public land rights have a long history in the United States. But the past 18 months have seen a growing number of confrontations over Western federal lands, culminating in the current standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. [excerpt]

On Self-Declared Caliph Ibrahim’S December 2015 Speech: Further Evidence For Critical Vulnerabilities In The Crumbling Caliphate, Paul Kamolnick

ETSU Faculty Works

Excerpt: On December 26, 2015 a 24-minute audio message was released by the Islamic State Organization’s (ISO) official media arm al-Furqan.

Downtown Parking Analysis, Dr. Jason Plume

2015-2016: Clinton, Iowa

No abstract provided.

Islamophobia “Trumps” Reason, Ryan L. Greene

Op-Ed Pieces

Op Eds, or opinion editorials, are typically published in daily newspapers and can raise awareness about a particular topic or aim to persuade others. For this project each student wrote an op-ed in which they presented their opinion or thoughts about the issue of islamophobic discourse coming from Republican candidates, especially Donald Trump.

I Am Muslim, But Muslim Is Not Me, Nofisat Eletu

Op-Ed Pieces

Op Eds, or opinion editorials, are typically published in daily newspapers and can raise awareness about a particular topic or aim to persuade others. For this project each student wrote an op-ed in which they presented their opinion or thoughts about the issue of islamophobic discourse coming from Republican candidates, especially Donald Trump.

Remaking American Greatness, Aubrey M. Waddick

Op-Ed Pieces

Op Eds, or opinion editorials, are typically published in daily newspapers and can raise awareness about a particular topic or aim to persuade others. For this project each student wrote an op-ed in which they presented their opinion or thoughts about the issue of islamophobic discourse coming from Republican candidates, especially Donald Trump.

Public Policy In The 2016 Election, Trevor J. Rogers

Op-Ed Pieces

Op Eds, or opinion editorials, are typically published in daily newspapers and can raise awareness about a particular topic or aim to persuade others. For this project each student wrote an op-ed in which they presented their opinion or thoughts about the issue of islamophobic discourse coming from Republican candidates, especially Donald Trump.

Republican Party Jumps On Board For Islamophobia, Sophie Bennett

Op-Ed Pieces

Op Eds, or opinion editorials, are typically published in daily newspapers and can raise awareness about a particular topic or aim to persuade others. For this project each student wrote an op-ed in which they presented their opinion or thoughts about the issue of islamophobic discourse coming from Republican candidates, especially Donald Trump.