Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

A Conflict-Sensitive Approach To Conditional Cash Transfers In Indonesia: Can Ccts Reduce Conflict?, Glenys Kirana

CMC Senior Theses

Given that conditional cash transfers (CCTs) can be a very effective social welfare program to reduce poverty and improve education and health outcomes, but may exacerbate conflict, this thesis addresses strategies for conflict-sensitive formulation and implementation of CCTs in Indonesia. This thesis raises the immediate need to address poverty in Indonesia and seeks to learn from the successes and challenges of other CCTs, such as those enacted in Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, and the Philippines. This thesis also looks into existing literature comparing the effectiveness of CCTs to other social protection programs (SPPs) and finds that CCT is one of the …

Paying For Infrastructure In An Urban Environment: Roles Of Ideological Beliefs And Self-Interest In Support For Two Funding Mechanisms, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Lenahan O'Connell, Khairul A. Anuar, Kaitrin Mahar

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This study examines public preferences for two revenue options—fuel taxes and tolls—to finance transportation infrastructure in an urban area with the use of the results of a survey of residents of the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia. Specifically, the study addresses two related research questions: (a) To what extent do residents support instituting tolls, increasing the fuel tax, or both? (b) What roles do self-interest and ideological beliefs play in support of increasing the fuel tax, imposing tolls, or doing both? The study finds that 50% of respondents expressed a willingness to support fuel taxes or tolls for infrastructure, …

Public Perception And Privacy Issues With Dna Regulations And Database In Alabama, Thea Denean Hall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database is utilized in all 50 states for matching DNA evidence with criminal suspects. While each state administers CODIS, which ultimately feeds into a national database, little is understood about how citizens in states perceive the utility of such a database and how their perceptions and knowledge of DNA could impact state policy changes though voting. Research also suggests that the "CSI Effect" may impact how citizens perceive the role of a national DNA database. Grounded on Gerbner's cultivation theory, the purpose of this study was to determine if, in Alabama, there is a …

The Impact Of State-Provided Paid Family Leave On Wages: Examining The Role Of Gender, Aimee Samantha Abrams Widdicombe

Scripps Senior Theses

The U.S. is the only OECD country that does not offer any form of federal paid parental leave. Only three states—California, New Jersey and Rhode Island—have state-provided paid leave policies; implemented in 2004, 2009 and 2014, respectively. Through descriptive statistics and difference-in-difference-in-difference regression analyses of the wages of women and men of childbearing age (19-45 years) in those three states, we assess whether the paid leave programs have effected wages, and whether these effects vary depending on gender. Our results show that wages of women of childbearing age saw negligible net effects post-policy in policy states, although statistically insignificant. On …

Effects Of The Illinois Budget Crisis On Home-Based Childcare Businesses, Okeycha Pettigrew

All Capstone Projects

There are over 800,000 children in Illinois that need to be placed in early learning programs. Many programs are closing due to the lack of financial support from government programs that provide financial assistance to parents who cannot afford to pay for childcare. The budget crisis that Illinois is currently experiencing has caused a decrease in funding early childhood education, and has cut many programs that are beneficial to home-based childcare businesses. What is happening to the children and the families that depend on childcare assistance? How does that affect the economy? What will happen to the communities that need …

Unpacking The Census: 5 Years Later, John V. Moeser

Poverty in Metropolitan Richmond

Unpacking the Census: 5 Years Later

Dr. John V. Moeser
Senior Fellow, Bonner Center for Civic Engagement
University of Richmond
Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies and Planning, Virginia Commonwealth University

Taylor Holden
GIS Technician, Spatial Analysis Lab
University of Richmond

Olivia Mobayed
Senior Intern, Spatial Analysis Lab
University of Richmond

Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey, 2010-2014, Five-Year Estimates. Five-year estimates are used rather than one-year or three-year estimates in order to reduce the margin of error. All slides about each of the localities include data about race. …

Unmas 2015 Annual Report, Unmas

Global CWD Repository

The centrality of mine action in humanitarian responses was widely and unanimously recognized by United Nations Member States and throughout the mine action sector in 2015. In his biennial report to the United Nations General Assembly on Assistance in Mine Action, the Secretary-General highlighted that mine action is “at the core of postconflict humanitarian response” and emphasised that “contamination of mines and explosive remnants of war remains a major security issue affecting civilian populations, United Nations operations and the sustainment of global peace and security”. The Global Humanitarian Overview for 2016, launched by the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator in …

The United Nations Policy On Victim Assistance In Mine Action, Unmas

Global CWD Repository

This Policy on Victim Assistance in Mine Action replaces the 2003 “Mine Action and effective coordination: the United Nations policy - Sectoral policy: The scope of action of mine action centres and organizations in victim assistance”. It reflects the significant changes in the legal and policy framework for victim assistance which have occurred since 2003, and prevails to language relevant to victim assistance contained in “Mine Action and Effective Coordination: The United Nations Inter-Agency Policy”, which was approved by the InterAgency Coordination Group on Mine Action (IACG-MA)1 at the Principals’ level on 6 June 2005.

Mine Action And Peace Mediation, Gichd, Swiss Peace

Global CWD Repository

The humanitarian consequences of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) are extensive and long lasting. This fact suggests the relevance of having them addressed in negotiations among conflict parties and included in ceasefire and peace agreements. Nevertheless, the link between mine action (also called humanitarian demining) and peace mediation is underexplored in practice and theory as is illustrated by the limited guidance and literature on the matter. This issue brief aims to explore to what extent the two communities of practice could overcome the tendency of working in isolation and benefit from one another. It also shows that mine …

Qasef: Escaping The Bombing, Hi

Global CWD Repository

This study confirms that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Syria is at times nearly continuous, with indiscriminate bombing that lasts for days. The attacks are sometimes seemingly random, until there is complete destruction of an area. All Syrians interviewed said they fled because of the various effects of the conflict, and most of them stressed that the main reason for leaving their homes was the use of explosive weapons in their villages, towns, and cities. In our interviews, explosive weapons were mentioned as the overriding factor forcing Syrians out as they fled from their homes.

Analysis …

Briefing Paper On The Convention On Cluster Muntions, Icbl-Cmc

Global CWD Repository

The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions is a legally binding international treaty that comprehensively prohibits the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions, requires destruction of stockpiled cluster munitions within eight years, and clearance of contaminated land within ten years. It recognises the rights of individuals and communities affected by the weapon and requires states to provide assistance. The Convention also obliges countries to assist affected states to fulfil their obligations.

The Convention was signed by 94 states when it opened for signature in Oslo, Norway on 3 December 2008. Sixty percent of the world’s states have now joined …

Landmine Monitor 2016, Icbl-Cmc

Global CWD Repository

This is the 18th annual Landmine Monitor report. It is the sister publication to the Cluster Munition Monitor report, first published in November 2010. Landmine Monitor 2016 provides a global overview of the landmine situation. Chapters on developments in specific countries and other areas are available in online Country Profiles at www.the-monitor.org/cp.

Landmine Monitor covers mine ban policy, use, production, trade, and stockpiling, and also includes information on contamination, clearance, casualties, victim assistance, and support for mine action. The report focuses on calendar year 2015, with information included up to November 2016 when possible.

Debt Financed Migration To Consumption Smoothing: Tracing The Link Between Migration And Food Security In Bangladesh, Mohammad Moniruzzaman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation is primarily focused on migration and food security linkages, more specifically the impact of migrants’ remittances on household food security, and the role of debt in financing migration. Using a multi-methods approach the dissertation focuses on the household level, but also sheds light on the related policy landscape linked to these resource issues. The dissertation consists of seven chapters, with four research finding chapters that are each self-contained and interdisciplinary. Each of these four chapters adds conceptually and empirically to the existing literature on migration and development.

Chapters one and two provide the introduction and literature review. Chapter …

Beyond Reparation: Affirmative Action As A Solution For Disparate Representation, Suny Cardenas-Gomez

Student Research

This essay provides support for Affirmative Action policy from the perspective that both supporters and opponents want merit-based evaluations. Disparate representation and prejudice-driven discrimination, however, make this impossible. Affirmative Action gives minorities the opportunity to change their representation in certain fields, therefore changing the way they are perceived, and eventually dissipating existing race-based discrimination in the evaluation process.

Unintended Consequences Of Cigarette Prohibition, Regulation, And Taxation, Jonathan D. Kulick, James E. Prieger, Mark A. R. Kleiman

All Faculty Open Access Publications

Laws that prohibit, regulate, or tax cigarettes can generate illicit markets for tobacco products. Illicit markets both reduce the efficacy of policies intended to improve public health and create harms of their own. Enforcement can reduce evasion but creates additional harms, including incarceration and violence. There is strong evidence that more enforcement in illicit drug markets can spur violence. The presence of licit substitutes, such as electronic cigarettes, has the potential to greatly reduce the size of illicit markets.

We present a model demonstrating why enforcement can increase revenues in the illicit market, show that states with higher tobacco taxes …

The Impact Of The Universal Basic Education Program In Addressing Rural Secondary School Drop Outs, Chinwe Anwuli Mordi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Universal Basic Education (UBE) was designed to address the social problem of drop outs in secondary schools, but dropout rates in secondary schools are still at a 42% high in Enugu State, Nigeria. This study sought to understand teachers' perceptions of the program, the ways the UBE impacted the dropout problem, and what could be done to the UBE program to make it more effective. This study provided an important contribution to the literature, as it examined an often neglected perspective: the input of teachers in the field, as opposed to those of policy planners at the top. The …

Relocation Based On Slow-Onset Climate-Induced Environmental Change In Keta, Ghana, Abdul-Moomin Ansong Salifu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Coastal indigenous communities in Keta, Ghana, are experiencing resettlement as a result of slow-onset, climate-induced flooding and erosion. Previous researchers have documented the risk of relocation from rapid-onset events, but little is known about the effectiveness of policies developed in response to slow-onset changes. This phenomenological study investigated the ongoing lived experiences of adult household members in Keta who were relocated by the government. Jun's critical theory provided a constructionist interpretive framework to determine whether Ghana's national policy on climate change resettlement adequately meets Rawls's criteria for distributive social justice. Policy documents and transcriptions of interviews with a purposeful sample …

Consequences Of The Niger Delta Amnesty Program Implementation On Nigeria's Upstream Petroleum Industry, Chisomaga Ihediohanma Ezeocha

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Niger Delta militancy ravaged the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector between 2004-2009, bringing it to a standstill. In response, the Nigerian state adopted an amnesty policy―a globally recognized tool for conflict resolution and peacebuilding―to protect the sector and the economy from collapse. Little is known, however, about the unintended consequences of the amnesty implementation for the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector. Thus, the purpose of this study was to fill this gap in the research literature on the Niger Delta amnesty program. Polarity management was the conceptual framework applied; relative deprivation and polarities of democracy constituted the theoretical foundation for this …

Economic Policy Implications Of Port Concession In Nigeria, Chiedu Bertram Ndubisi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous research on privatization has focused on its effect on output, profitability, investment, and efficiency at the level of the firm, neglecting the economic growth and other impacts. Nigeria's port privatization through concession in 2006 covered virtually all the ports in the economy. However, the few studies on the subject neither factored in the complexity that characterize the multiple port system nor controlled for alternative explanations of the changes in the economy. This correlational study tested the property rights theory by investigating whether the changes in production efficiency at the ports following privatization are good predictors of economic growth in …

Texas Sheriff Perceptions Of The Militia Movement, John F. Fisher

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the election of President Barack Obama, the United States has seen a steady increase in the number of right-wing militia groups. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Department of Homeland Security have claimed that the various militia groups are a dangerous domestic terrorism threat. Law enforcement perceptions of the threat that these militia groups pose served as the focus of inquiry in this multiple case study. These perceptions were explored through the theoretical frameworks of groupthink, Credulous Bayesianism, and nudge theory. A purposeful sample of 12 local sheriffs in Texas were interviewed in an attempt to identify common …

Veterans First Contracting Program Preference Hierarchy: Effect On Veteran-Owned Small Business, Harry Parker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) leaders created a Veterans First Contracting Program (VFCP) under Public Law 109-461 to provide procurement opportunities for veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs). However, DVA leaders established a preference hierarchy that increased opportunities for SDVOSBs and decreased opportunities for VOSBs. Research was lacking regarding the effects of the preference policy on VOSBs as a distinct small business category. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and understand the experiences of 20 VOSB owners actively enrolled in the VFCP from Maryland, Virginia, and District of Columbia. Through the lens …

The Usa Patriot Act And Punctuated Equilibrium, Michael Sanders

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Currently, Title II of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT Act) Act of 2001 appears to be stalled as a result of controversy over the intent and meaning of the law. Proponents of the title advocate the necessity of the act to combat modern terrorism, whereas opponents warn of circumventions of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Using punctuated equilibrium as the theoretical foundation, the purpose of this case study was to explore the dialogue and legal exchanges between the American Civil Liberties Union and the Department of …

Strengthening Participatory Democracy Through Participatory Budgeting, Babatunde Adesegun Sobanjo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although participatory budgeting (PB) was introduced in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2005, it has yet to be widely adopted. While PB has great potential to enhance citizen participation in the democratic process, little academic research has focused on the utility of PB as a mechanism for citizen empowerment in the region. The purpose of this case study was to gain further understanding of the role of civil society in educating and empowering the citizens of Ijede LCDA in Lagos State, Nigeria to participate effectively in budgetary decision-making processes. The data were gathered from 15 semi-structured, one-on-one interviews of purposefully selected participants …

Government 2.5: The Impact Of Social Media On Public Sector Accessibility, Wayne E. Woods

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Innovative approaches to communicating with the masses continue to evolve in the private sector, while accessibility of goods, services, and public information within federal, state, and local government organizations has been declining for decades. This situation has resulted in a lack of trust and sense of isolation from communities. At the same time, the implementation and use of social media have increased exponentially. Despite the simultaneous occurrence of these events, limited research has explored the connection between them. Specifically, the purpose of this case study was to address the central research question of whether the adoption of social media platforms …

Female Circumcision: A Phenomenological Study Of Somalian Immigrant To The United States, Emmanuel Fai Tatah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Female circumcision (FC) is the partial or total removal of the female genitalia for nonmedical reasons. This study was designed to examine the lived experiences of Somali women who underwent FC before coming to the United States. FC is widely carried out in Somalia with a prevalence of 98%, making Somalia the country with the highest percentage of circumcised women. There are short- and long-term consequences associated with FC such as bleeding, infection, and death. Therefore, it is important to understand how Somali women who underwent FC think and feel about circumcision, why they would continue the practice, and whether …

A Study Of Satisfaction With Online Learning In Workplace Training, M. Anita Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The American workplace and American culture have rapidly transitioned to online learning and are now more dependent on technology. Yet, in spite of a multitude of studies that explored online learning, it has not been established whether managers are satisfied with application of technology to training. The purpose of this study was to examine receptiveness as expressed by satisfaction with effectiveness of online training among managers to determine if a relationship exists for age, position, and length of service. The research was based on theoretical foundations of Herzberg's theory of motivation and Herzberg's theory of job satisfaction. The goal of …

Public Sector Leaders' Strategies To Improve Employee Retention, Michael D. Izard-Carroll

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. Department of Labor and Statistics consistently reports significant employee turnover in the public sector, including the federal, state, and local levels. High turnover results in compromised public goods and services provided to a community. The widespread nature of the problem and the scarcity of literature focusing on employee retention strategies in the public sector merited this case study. Public sector leaders from Western New York who had implemented employee retention strategies in a public organization comprised the population for the study. Cost-benefit theory, human capital theory, and social capital theory provided the conceptual context for developing and executing …

Oppression, Manifesting From A Government Mission Of Positive Social Change, David Palmer Ramstad

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Government social interventions hold considerable power over what choices and opportunities impoverished households have available to escape the oppressive socioeconomic trappings of poverty. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is one such program. While there are many positive mission statements of social governance, this study focused on the regressive potential for oppressive institutional policies and practices. Theoretical frameworks guiding the study were Pierce’s 1979 model of oppression and Crenshaw’s 1989 intersectionality theory. The quantitative design’s hypothesis and research question focused on whether significant relationships exist between LIHTC project placement and highest concentrations of six commonly …

To Walk The Earth In Safety 16th Edition (Cy2016), Us Dos Pm/Wra

Global CWD Repository

Even after a conflict ends and the fighters have gone home, the threats from landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), and at-risk weapons and munitions remain. These threats foment instability; as long as men, women, and children fear to move about their communities due to the lingering threat of landmines and UXO, a society can never fully heal and rebuild.

The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) works with foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations to deliver programs and services aimed at reducing the harmful effects of at-risk, illicitly proliferated, and indiscriminately used …

Indigenous Rights Policy And Terrorist Discourse: A Strategy To Stifle Mapuche Self-Determination In Chile, Reyna Mckinnon

Scripps Senior Theses

When President Sebastián Piñera entered office in 2010 the Mapuche indigenous people were receiving two contrasting messages from the Chilean State. On the one hand, the government ratified ILO Convention 169, pledging to protect the indigenous right to prior consultation in programs that affect their communities. On the other hand, the government was involved in the oppression of Mapuche communities in the region of the Araucanía through militarisation and the application of the Anti-Terrorist Law to punish radical Mapuche activists that protest corporate encroachment on their land. While Piñera had the opportunity to legitimize the Mapuche demand for self-determination by …