Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Caretaker Of Captors: The Experience Of Role Conflict Among State Correctional Officers, Camille M. Botticelli-Pohl

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

A variety of policies at the national level over the last 70 years have resulted in the mass incarceration of various marginalized populations, inclusive of individuals with mental health problems or severe mental illness. Although Constitutional mandates require that psychology staff be available at all state and federal facilities, these providers spend a fraction of the time with incarcerated people than correctional officers do. Correctional officers seem to play an important, if often overlooked, supporting role in the management of the day-to-day lives of people in custody, including elements of their mental health care. They are also, theoretically, tasked with …

The Effectiveness Of The Minnesota Buffer Law And Its Impacts On People, Ellen P. Isakson

Journal of Earth and Life Science

In January 2015, the then-governor of Minnesota Mark Dayton announced new legislation that would require 50-foot vegetation buffers along all waterways in Minnesota; this legislation would come to be known as the Minnesota buffer law, exact requirements being “perennial vegetative buffers of up to 50 feet along lakes, rivers, and streams and buffers of 16.5 feet along ditches” (Albert, 2017; MN Board of Water and Soil Resources [MN BWSR] 4 ). A buffer in the context of vegetation and natural resource management is a strip of vegetation around a body of water “designed to intercept stormwater runoff and minimize soil …

Social Determinants Of Health And Aging In Africa: Structural Inequality, Vulnerability, And The Future Of Care, Aremu Umor Lukman, Sunkanmi Folorunsho, Abdulrauf Olaitan Taofeeq

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Population aging is accelerating across Africa yet remains underrepresented in research, policy, and public health planning. This review critically examines how social determinants shape aging experiences across the continent, focusing on health, care systems, and structural inequalities. While traditional African societies have historically valued older adults, modernization, migration, and economic hardship have eroded support systems, leaving many to face old age with limited resources. Older Africans, particularly women and rural residents, contend with lifelong disadvantages including low education, informal labor, poverty, and gendered caregiving roles that contribute to poor health and social vulnerability. Health systems remain poorly equipped to address …

Effectiveness, Coherence, And Justice Implications Of Clean Energy Policies In The United States, Josephine Amponsem

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Public policies have been adopted and implemented at various government levels in the United States, aiming to facilitate the clean energy transition process. This dissertation examines three distinct but related dimensions of clean energy policies: policy effectiveness, policy coherence, and distributional policy impact. First, I evaluate the impact of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) on clean energy adoption at the utility level using a quasi-experimental design: the Difference-in-Difference estimation. Secondly, I use the state of California as a case study to investigate the role of policy coherence in public policy success. Thirdly, I investigate whether communities with different …

The New Urbanism In New York City: A Case Study Comparing Battery Park City And Alphabet City, Lena Farley

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis examines two Manhattan neighborhoods, Battery Park City and Alphabet City, through the lens of New Urbanism—an urban planning approach developed in the 1990s. New Urbanist principles prioritize walkability, connectivity, mixed-use development, diversity, varied housing options, architectural quality, green transportation, sustainability, and accessible green spaces. While Battery Park City represents a top-down, master-planned New Urbanist neighborhood based on a 1979 plan, Alphabet City emerged from the 1811 Manhattan grid with significant community-driven design, notably through community gardens and grassroots initiatives. Using a mixed-methods approach including residential surveys, qualitative, and quantitative analyses, this research investigates how these neighborhoods embody New …

Housing On The Ballot: A Comparative Analysis Of Measure United To House La And Bring Chicago Home, Gwen Tucker

Scripps Senior Theses

In 2022 and 2024 respectively, activists in the cities of Los Angeles and Chicago put forward ballot measures to address their city’s housing crisis by implementing a progressive real estate transfer tax to fund affordable housing and homelessness services. While Measure United to House LA overwhelmingly passed, Bring Chicago Home later failed. To understand why two seemingly similar ballot measures in two large, progressive cities resulted in such different outcomes, I employ a three-pronged framework, rooted in the literature of social movement studies, which examines each city’s historical context around housing and homelessness, policy design and framing opportunities, and process …

Examining The Adjustment, Acculturation, And Well-Being Of International Arab Students In The United States: Implications For Policy And Practice, Hassan A A Kh A A Arab

Wayne State University Dissertations

This paper explored Arab international students studying in the United States to see whether they face acculturation stress, adjustment, or well-being issues. I found that my sample (N=95) experienced moderately high well-being distress and acculturative stress. However, the sample showed resilience and positive adjustment in all aspects, psychological (M=34.7), social (M=38.5), and academic (M=37.4). Moreover, well-being score from a modified GHQ survey came with high SD, indicating some students were dealing with serious mental issues, while others were doing well (M=42.92, SD=5.52). The majority of my participants were males (74.7%), single (75.8%), and graduate students (50.5%). Chi-square analysis found a …

The Connection Between Fragmentation And Traffic Stops, John Bulat

Wayne State University Dissertations

Throughout the United States, there are hundreds of metropolitan areas. For myriad reasons, the number of local governments within each metropolitan area varies. Some scholars argue that having too many local governments leads to inefficiencies and inequities for the metropolitan area as a whole and for its central city in particular (e.g., Wood, 1958; Dreier et al., 2014). Others maintain the opposite. They contend that having more local governments leads to greater competition between municipalities for citizens and businesses. This, in turn, keeps service costs low, leads to lower taxes, and provides greater choice for citizens in terms of places …

The Effects Of Representation On Student Educational Outcomes In Wayne County, Michigan, Stacey Princess Deering

Wayne State University Dissertations

Representation in education has been studied for decades by experts and scholarly researchers. Most researchers utilized the bureaucratic representation framework to analyze the impact of representation in education and the public sector. The framework incorporates three levels that are examined through a standard analysis referred to as street, managerial, and political (elected officials). I conducted a cross-sectional analysis to assess the impact of representation on students’ educational outcomes across the 32 school districts located in Wayne County, Michigan. Approximately 1.8 million Michiganders reside in Wayne County, making it the largest county in the state, encompassing the highest populated city, Detroit, …

Passing The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: Gun Control After 30 Years, Kory Lohrmann

Wayne State University Dissertations

In June of 2022, the United States Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) after nearly 30 years of inaction. This dissertation analyzes why after decades of status quo maintenance (lack of gun control action), Congress decided to act following the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde Texas. This research uses hypotheses generated from Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) to compare six different mass shootings to examine what set the Uvalde shooting apart from other similar shooting within the last 15 years. This study analyzes media coverage, public opinion shifts, political saliences, election cycles, and victim characteristics to break down …

Through The Lens Of Social Media: Examining The Relationship Between Exposure To Social Media Videos Of Police Misconduct And Perceptions Of Legitimacy And Cooperation With Campus Police, Kamal Alhassan

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how exposure to social media and internet news videos depicting police misconduct influences college students' perceptions of campus police legitimacy, procedural justice, and willingness to cooperate. Although prior research has demonstrated the impact of media portrayals on perceptions of municipal police, limited attention has been given to campus policing contexts. Guided by Tyler’s process-based theory of police legitimacy and Gerbner’s cultivation theory, this quantitative study surveyed 400 students at a large public university in the Southeastern Mid-Atlantic region. Measures included self-reported viewing and engagement with police misconduct content on social media, internet, and traditional media platforms, as …

The Dance Of Human Affairs: Public Administration Leaders’ Perceptions Of Candor’S Impact On A Sense Of Belonging, Aaron Dimmock

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines public administration leaders’ perceptions within the executive branch of the state government studied to determine if the components of radical candor, care personally and challenge directly, are associated with the sense of belonging in a public administration setting. Questions from surveys conducted by the state government studied were used to create the variables analyzed in this study. To the researcher’s knowledge, this is the first study to apply components from the Radical Candor® Framework to determine a relationship with sense of belonging in a public administration setting.

The significance of these components was tested through a quantitative, …

Examining Drug Policy In Portugal And Greece, Collin Fernandes

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the divergent drug policies implemented in Portugal and Greece, analyzing why Portugal's comprehensive decriminalization model has been more successful than Greece's partial approach. Since 2001, Portugal has pioneered a drug policy that decriminalizes all drugs for personal use while investing in harm reduction services, rehabilitation, and social reintegration. In contrast, Greece maintained criminalization while implementing more limited harm reduction measures, particularly through OKANA (the Organization Against Drugs). The research highlights how economic factors, particularly the 2008 financial crisis and austerity measures, negatively affected both countries' programs but hit Greece's initiatives with greater severity. Portugal's programs have remained …

Procedural Reform And One-Sided Litigation: Evaluating The Impact Of California’S Fair Debt Buying Practices Act, Kaitlyn Seever

CMC Senior Theses

This study evaluates whether California’s Fair Debt Buying Practices Act (CFDBPA), effective January 2014, improved litigation outcomes in consumer debt lawsuits. The CFDBPA sought to curb abusive practices by imposing heightened documentation requirements on debt buyers. Using a dataset of 535,766 limited-jurisdiction debt collection cases filed in Los Angeles County between 2012 and 2022, a constrained difference-in-differences event study design compares outcomes between secondary and non-secondary debt buyers before and after the law’s implementation.

The analysis finds modest changes: dismissals for secondary buyers increased slightly relative to non-secondary buyers, but default judgment rates remained high. Defendant response rates declined for …

A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Realism In U.S. Foreign Policy, Olivia M. Licata

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the influence of realist theory on U.S. foreign policy from 1776 to 2025. Through a temporal analysis of policy across three international power systems – multipolarity, bipolarity, and unipolarity – this paper determines that U.S. foreign policymakers follow realist prescriptions for state behavior given their perception of the United States’ status within the international balance of power system. As a result, the U.S. foreign policy has become rooted in realist assumptions and constrained to realism-prescribed behavior, which will ultimately lead to hegemonic decline. This paper calls for the reexamination of realist influences on foreign policy decision-making.

Faltered States: The Rise, Fall, And Containment Of Psychedelic Science In The United States, Baxter Brew

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis traces the history of psychedelic science in the United States and its implications for policymaking. In the postwar period, psychedelic researchers were enabled by a unique convergence of optimism in medical science and structural flexibility. But their hope blinded them to the deeper tensions of their field. As institutions grew increasingly rigid and risk-averse, the space for psychedelics began to close. Some scientists responded by fortifying the walls around them, developing socially and professionally acceptable research methods. Others tried to escape these walls entirely. But neither approach could prevent psychedelics from being squeezed out of formal inquiry. Yet …

Consequences Of Artificial Intelligence In Health Insurance: Lawsuits, Policy, And Ethics, Alyssa N. Roberts

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In recent years, the healthcare system has been burdened by a multitude of obstacles that hinder the ability to provide effective, affordable, and timely care. Among these, one of the most significant challenges is the role that health insurance plays in shaping the quality of care. Health insurance companies are designed to decrease financial strain on patients, but they have introduced inefficiencies through delayed coverage approvals, increased denials, and administrative costs. Artificial intelligence (AI) has started to play an integral role in resolving these issues for the health insurance industry. Through its quick automated claim processing, fraud screening, and reduced …

Corruption And Foreign Direct Investment In Ghana: Empirical Assessment Of The Mediating Role Of Institutional Quality And Political Stability, Isaac K. Yeboah

Graduate Research Posters

Background: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) provides more than just capital; it introduces technology and managerial expertise, contributing significantly to economic growth. However, corruption, measured by the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), deters inflows. This study examines how Ghana’s CPI relates to FDI, with institutional quality and political stability as mediators accounting for GDP, inflation, and exchange rates as covariates.

Methods: A non-experimental quantitative design that adopts a multivariate deductive approach is used to test the theoretical propositions, and uses data from 1995 to 2022. CPI data are sourced from Transparency International, FDI from the IMF, and institutional quality and …

Gods Guns: Why Firearms And Firearm Culture Remain Sacred To Rural Americans, Thomas Westrick

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

With ample evidence demonstrating a link between low levels of gun regulation and high levels of firearm fatalities, it seems intuitive that Americans would want to increase the level of firearm regulation to bring down the level of violence. However, the target population, white males living in rural areas of the State of Indiana and practicing the Christian Evangelical Protestant tradition, display high levels of resistance to new firearm regulation. This study sought to explore that resistance through the lens of the rural gun culture with an interpretivist qualitative design using reflexive thematic analysis to answer the research question: How …

Cyber Warfare And The Future Of Conflict, Victor A. Mercado

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis examines whether cyber warfare now poses a more immediate threat to U.S. national security than weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Cyber operations have become a dominant instrument of contemporary conflict, with malicious actors operating in a persistent “grey zone” that blurs traditional boundaries between war and peace. These operations target military and civilian entities, both directly and often as collateral damage due to the uncontrollable nature of cyber threats. WMDs, despite their catastrophic destructive potential, remain largely constrained by established deterrence frameworks.

The evolving nature of cyber warfare warrants comparison to WMD effects and impact, as cyber capabilities …

Ineligible Partners: Tribal Nations And Cooperative Federalism In The Historical Development Of National Forest Law And Policy, James H. Baker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Lands within the National Forest System (NFS), like all federal public lands, are rooted in Aboriginal Title and were once exclusively inhabited by Indigenous peoples and communities. Through the process of treaty-making, the federal government amassed millions of acres of ceded Tribal lands, many of which are now managed by federal public land agencies, including 194 million acres managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Several Tribes reserved various use and property rights on these lands that are protected by the U.S. Constitution’s Treaty and Supremacy Clauses. The federal government also has an overarching trust obligation to Tribes – a …

Policy Paper On Incorporating Migrant Children In A Strengthened Public Education System, Amira Abdelaziz, Dina Ibrahim, Dunia Zaatar

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

A transit, destination, and sending country, Egypt generously hosts more than one million refugees and asylum seekers (UNHCR, 2025), in addition to several migrants estimated at nine million in 2022 (IOM, 2022). Against this backdrop, the country is currently facing growing challenges in ensuring access to quality, inclusive, and equitable primary education for migrant and refugee children, particularly following the arrival of Sudanese nationals since April 2023, when the conflict in Sudan erupted. Egypt’s new Asylum Law No. 164 of 2024 grants de jure access to basic education for all refugee children until the age of 14, yet the law …

A Comparative Analysis Of Artificial Intelligence Regulation: Implications For Singapore, Cheng Kit Kit Pang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In relation to artificial intelligence (“AI”) regulation, Singapore presently adopts a wait-and-see approach, refraining from implementing any hard regulation before 2026. This article is directed at making recommendations for Singapore’s future AI hard regulation and conducts a comparative analysis of the hard AI regulation in the EU, the People’s Republic of China (“China”) and South Korea. This article draws lessons specifically from Asian jurisdictions with similar socio-legal and commercial considerations. In particular, China and South Korea are at the forefront, actively pushing for hard regulation. Key takeaways include the potential drivers for a shift towards hard regulation, the scope and …

Black Birth Work As Radical Praxis: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Inquiry Of Leadership Among Black Birth Workers, Lesa C. Clark

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This hermeneutic phenomenological study explores the leadership experiences of Black birth workers (BBWs), revealing critical insights into leadership dynamics within maternal healthcare. Through a theoretical framework integrating African feminism, Black feminism, and anti-racist feminism, the research examines how BBWs conceptualize and enact leadership through embodied, relational, and liberatory approaches. This study addresses a significant gap in leadership literature, particularly regarding generational knowledge and practices of BBWs, which remain understudied despite their vital role in Black maternal healthcare. This study reveals distinct leadership perspectives and methodologies through in-depth interviews with eight BBWs and a detailed interpretive analysis. The findings contribute to …

Ethical Imperatives For Rational Paternalism In Advisor-Client Relationships, Igor A. Zey

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study seeks to understand the role of ethics and rational paternalism in the practice of financial advising. A significant amount of research examines the effects of rational paternalism on the governmental and institutional levels. Very little research has addressed the issues associated with rational paternalistic behavior by advisors toward their clients. Investopedia (2013) focuses on advisors’ ethics and moral responsibilities, underscoring the ethical standards clients should expect from their financial advisors. However, practically none of the literature examines the ethics, morals, and practical aspects of individual paternalism. In response, this study examines the concept of rational paternalism in advisor-client …

Journey To Well-Being: An Exploration Of Thrivership Post-Domestic Violence, Kader Gumus

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Domestic violence profoundly affects multiple facets of a survivor’s life. While most existing literature on survivorship addresses the immediate aftermath of domestic violence, this study delves into the extended process following the trauma of abuse to attain “thrivership,” a new concept in the scholarly and practice literature that emphasizes enduring well-being and flourishing. This dissertation examines the journeys from surviving to thriving for 13 women who transformed themselves and their lives to achieve well-being after traumatic domestic violence. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory was applied to examine the multiple layers of environmental influences on an individual’s development, including the micro, meso, …

Assisted Living, Residential Care, And Memory Care Staffing Level Dynamics: Oregon, 2017–2023, Sarah Dys, Ozcan Tunalilar

Institute on Aging Publications

Objectives

To examine changes in staffing levels over time in Oregon assisted living and residential care (AL/RC) communities between 2017 and 2023.

Design

Longitudinal study of licensed AL/RC communities.

Setting and Participants

A total of 1720 setting-year observations from 535 individual AL/RC communities in Oregon between 2017 and 2023.

Methods

Primary data were collected through the Oregon Community-Based Care (CBC) study. Staffing levels were estimated as care staff hours per resident per day and reported overall and by staff type, including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, certified medication aides, unlicensed care staff, life enrichment staff, and social …

The Invisible Costs Of Privatizing Welfare: Administrative Burdens In Contracted Medicaid, Soyun Jeong

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Why do governments favor contracting out social services? Do private actors guarantee a better service experience for citizens? How should we understand the trade-off between efficiency and high-quality service delivery? These are the central questions that motivate this dissertation. Focusing on Medicaid, one of the largest social safety net programs in the United States, this dissertation investigates the impact of outsourcing Medicaid delivery to private health insurance companies. It explores how this privatized structure generates administrative burdens and shapes policy feedback effects. Theoretically, this project seeks to bridge the administrative burden and policy feedback literature by examining how burdensome policy …

Officers’ Perceptions Of Body-Worn Cameras: An Exploratory Study Of Small Police Departments In Upstate New York, Stefan A. Dela Riva

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The aim of this exploratory study is to examine how police officers perceive the impact of body-worn cameras (BWCs) on their use of discretion when communicating with members of the public. In this context, “discretion” refers to an officer’s authority to make independent judgments while enforcing the law; deciding whether to issue a warning, make an arrest, or resolve an incident informally when legality permits. To understand officers’ opinions, a cross-sectional, quantitative online survey was distributed to various police departments and sheriff’s offices in upstate New York. Participants completed a series of Likert-style survey items addressing their general views on …

The Position Of The United States Of America Vis-A-Vis The Question Of Western Sahara: Assessing The Role Of Think Tanks In The Conflict, Hamid Baadeche

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

ABSTRACT

The Position of the United States of America Vis-à-vis the Question of Western Sahara: Assessing the Role of Think Tanks in the Conflict

Hamid Baadeche

Think tank organizations, particularly in the United States, have become a prominent feature of the political landscape. They act as advocates for specific policies that they consider beneficial for the country or a particular societal group. They function as a primary source of information, which they then aim to transform into well-informed policies and sound decisions. They are referred to as "the revolving doors," "idea brokers," and "idea factory." As such, their foremost objective …