Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Fair Equality Of Opportunity: Reconceiving Affirmative Action Through A Rawlsian Lens, Janelle Garcelon

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines common and past applications of affirmative action, including arguments for and against the application; presents John Rawls’ theory of justice, and proposes a framework using Rawls’ theory for future applications of affirmative action. The proposal relieves heavily on the principle of fair equality of opportunity, both as an indicator for when using affirmative action is appropriate as well as a tool to help identify the people that affirmative action programs should target. Using this framework, the public education system is identified as a sector of society that fails to provide fair equality of opportunity for all citizens, …

If You Can’T Take The Heat: Cultural Beliefs About Questionable Conduct, Stigma, Punishment, And Withdrawal Among Mexican Police Officers, Jorge A. Gonzalez, Lorena R. Pérez-Floriano

Management Faculty Publications

We introduce the concept of cultural beliefs about questionable conduct, and examine how these beliefs interact with stigma consciousness to influence punishment and two withdrawal behaviors: turnover and absenteeism. We used a sample of Mexican police officers in a border city and implemented a mixed method design, paying attention to the national, occupational, and organizational context of this setting. We conducted a qualitative phase to explore the prevalence and meaning of occupational stigma and four cultural beliefs about questionable conduct: greed, toughness, wariness, and savvy. The results of this phase helped us develop a context-relevant measure of cultural beliefs about …

Efficiency Of Unified Vs. Non-Unified State Judiciaries: An Examination Of Court Organizational Performance, William Raftery

Theses and Dissertations

State court systems function in much the same manner as any other government agency in terms of organization and management to utilize public resources in order to provide a public service. The question posed in the late 19th century was whether the courts should be organized and managed as they had been for centuries as local entities locally controlled and operated or transferred to the state level. The desired end was a more efficient use of public resources to achieve faster disposition of cases. This reorganization, called unification, was made up of three individual components: 1) consolidation required the reduction …

Leaning Out: Exploring Organizational Advocacy Activities From An Open Systems Perspective, Lauri Goldkind

Social Service Faculty Publications

his article explores the effect of organizational culture on engagement with advocacy activities, both traditional and electronic. The Competing Values Framework offers a model for understanding how organization's culture influences behavior. Using a sample of nonprofit providers from across the country, the author hypothesized that organizations that use electronic advocacy tools are more involved with advocacy activities of all types. A paper and pencil survey was used to collect data on organizational culture, advocacy tools and techniques, perceived effectiveness of the advocacy tools, policy goals, organizational sustainability goals as well as barriers and facilitators of electronic advocacy. The study used …

Turnover Intentions Of Nonprofit Fundraising Professionals: The Roles Of Perceived Fit, Exchange Relationships, And Job Satisfaction, Abbi L. Haggerty

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the turnover intentions of fundraisers employed by 501(c)(3) public charities in the United States. Specifically, the study considers the effects of the following variables on fundraisers’ intentions to leave their current position (in the short-term and long-term) and/or the profession of fundraising: perceptions of fit with organization and job; exchange relationships between employees and their organization and supervisor; overall job satisfaction; culture of philanthropy; salary; age; and organizational size. Through a secondary analysis of a national data set, multiple regression analysis identifies the variables that are statistically significant predictors of turnover intentions.

Perceived person-organization fit, job satisfaction, …

Measuring Happiness To Guide Public Policy Making: A Survey Of Instruments And Policy Initiatives, Laura Musikanski

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

This author examines subjective indicators of well-being as they relate to the happiness movement, a global effort to create a new economic paradigm. The essay focuses on the prominent international institutions that are developing happiness metrics as well as agencies exploring the use of happiness data for crafting supportive public policy. A definition of happiness metrics, based on international institutions, identifies the primary questions that compose perceived happiness and how this data can be used.

A Quantum Congress, Jorge R. Roig

Scholarly Works

This article tries to address the problem of a corrupt and broken electoral system that has been captured by special interests through big money spending in political campaigns, while at the same time preserving the spirit of the Free Speech Clause of our Constitution. In doing so, this article first reviews and summarizes the different alternatives proposed as potential fixes for the campaign finance problem. It then explains why none of the proposed alternatives can accomplish the dual goals set out above. Finally, the article briefly sketches a proposal for a fundamental reworking of our representative democracy by substituting legislative …

Into The Red: A Look Into The Reasons Why Refugees Decide To Flee, Settle Or Migrate To And From Morocco, Fadeelah E. Holivay

Master's Theses

This research paper explores some of the main reasons why refugees and asylum seekers, particularly from sub-Saharan African countries, embark on a journey and decide to settle, flee or migrate to and from Morocco. Because of this phenomenon, Morocco has seen a 96% increase of refugees migrating to the borders of Morocco each year for the past three years. Many say that this astonishing increase of migrants choosing Morocco is due to such factors as: wars breaking out regionally across central African and Middle Eastern countries causing them to flee; Morocco being a culturaly diverse francophone country whose laws and …

Whose Success? The State–Foreign Capital Nexus And The Development Of The Automotive Industry In Slovakia, Petr Pavlinek

Geography and Geology Faculty Publications

Using the case study of Slovakia, this article considers the role of the state in the rapid growth of the automotive industry in integrated peripheral markets of the global automotive industry. Although this growth has been mainly driven by the investment strategies of automotive lead firms, the state has played an important role by accommodating the strategic needs of foreign capital through neoliberal economic policies. In addition to secondary sources, the empirical research is based on a 2010 survey of 299 Slovak-based automotive firms with a response rate of 44% and on 38 on-site firm-level interviews conducted between 2011 and …

The Underlying Factors Driving The Push For Universal Suffrage In Hong Kong, Anthony Hoyin Wong

Political Science

This paper examines the current civil unrest in Hong Kong to determine the underlying causes that are driving Occupy Central and its affiliates to pressure the Central Government in Beijing and the Hong Kong government for universal suffrage. Drawing upon data from the 2003, 2007, and 2010 Asian Barometer, there has been a gradual decline in the level of trust in the Legislative Council and Hong Kong government as the majority of Hong Kong residents have expressed increasing uncertainty about their future economic situation along with their continual distrust in the abilities of government officials to serve the public. From …

An Examination Of Governmental And Nongovernmental Organizations In Nepal: A Partnership In Managing And Eliminating Waste In The Solukhumbu, Kristen Kelliher

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study, examined whether governmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations in Nepal can effectively work together on eliminating trash and establishing waste management systems in the Solukhumbu region. Historically, the overwhelming presence of discarded items has detracted from tourists’ enjoyment of the Himalayas as well as caused severe environmental ramifications. In the last twenty years however, NGOs and GOs have begun to work together to address these issues and this project looks at whether their working relationship is effective as they often have different objectives and methodology for reaching those goals. Conducting ten personal interviews, visiting GOs and NGOs in Sagarmatha …

The Journal Of Erw And Mine Action Issue 18.3 (2014), Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Pacific Islands | Program Management | Notes from the Field | Research and Development

Harnessing Geospatial Data To Enhance Erw Clearance In Pacific Islands, Jessica Dell

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Since World War II, the prevalence of explosive remnants of war has persisted in the Pacific Island nations. Supported by the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) and partnered with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, iMMAP seeks to improve the region's safety through lōōm, a geospatial information management system.

Erw Contamination In The Pacific Islands, Justin Smith

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The legacy of explosive remnants of war (ERW) has affected the daily lives of Pacific Islanders for more than 70 years. ERW contamination in the Pacific stems from conflict between the Allied forces and Japanese forces during World War II. Survey, clearance and information-management programs are helping to manage the continued risks to the impacted populations.

Clearance Operations In The Pacific Islands, Len Austin

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Golden West Humanitarian Foundation’s mine- and explosive-remnants-of-war clearance operations in the Marshall Islands reduced remaining World War II munitions contamination. Humanitarian efforts helped Mili Island and Taroa Island inhabitants recover land with nonexplosive technology during the four-month initiative.

Cisr’S Senior Managers’ Course: Now Regional Training, Suzanne Fiederlein

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

After delivering nine global Senior Managers’ Courses (SMC) in ERW and Mine Action on the campus of James Madison University (JMU), the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) launched its first regional SMC in Tajikistan in 2014. The regional focus will continue in 2015 when senior managers working in the field of explosive remnants of war (ERW) and mine action in Southeast Asia will participate in a course in Vietnam.

Capacity Building: Lessons Learned, Vanessa Finson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Norwegian People’s Aid believes that to deliver results in mine action programs, it must empower and support national governments to take ownership of the contamination problem. Successful capacity-building efforts require support and buy-in from national authorities and mutual respect between parties involved.

Best Practices In Managing Government Grants, Nicole Neitzey

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Dwindling funds have steadily created more competition for organizations in mine action and conventional weapons destruction. Given the current funding landscape in these fields, it is increasingly imperative for organizations to employ sound program-management practices to prove themselves worthy for continued funding. This article was adapted from several of the author’s presentations on securing funding, managing grant funds and project risk management.

Mine Risk Education In Mindanao, Philippines, Harshi Gunawardana

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Since 1968, the Bangsamoro region of central and southwestern Mindanao in the Philippines has experienced fighting between Muslim separatists and autonomists and the Philippines government. The conflict, including recent fighting initiated by breakaway insurgent groups, continues to leave unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination around Bangsamoro. UXO threaten the safety, livelihoods and security of communities in the region. Since 1999, more than 500 landmine/UXO casualties have been identified.

Gender And Disability Equality In Mine Action Program Management, William Hankey

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Women and persons with disabilities endure multiple challenges in mine action work. Thongvone Sosamphan and Mikael Bold provide insight into how such issues have been addressed in the professional sphere, what legislation frames them and how the mine action community can further respond to their inclusion in mine action.

Gichd Linguistic Outreach Programs, Faiz Paktian

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) introduced linguistic outreach programs (LOP) to provide mine action training and information in multiple languages. The LOP also promote communication between countries and organize regional workshops and meetings. By providing non-English training and information exchange opportunities, GICHD improved outreach and broadened potential beneficiaries, as well as strengthened mine action centers and organizations worldwide.

Demining In Remote Areas Of Northern Afghanistan, Artyom Harutyunyan

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Since September 2010, the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) has carried out survey-and-clearance operations in the isolated Darwaz region of northern Afghanistan, where explosive-ordnance caches and unexploded ordnance and mine contamination remain a serious concern.

Itf Enhancing Human Security Develops New Strategic Goals, Dorijan Marsic

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In response to changing global challenges, ITF Enhancing Human Security broadened its focus from mine action to human security.

Billy Goat Radio: Mre In Sahrawi Refugee Camps, Luisa Scapolla, Emanuela Cepolina

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Billy Goat Radio, a mine-risk education tool, enables local operators to easily write and produce short educational serial dramas, which can be radio broadcast and performed live for mine-affected communities. A pilot project using Billy Goat Radio was fielded in Sahrawi refugee camps in southwest Algeria in late 2013.

Humanitarian And Developmental Impact Of Anti-Vehicle Mines, Pascal Rapillard, Maryam Walton

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Anti-vehicle mines negatively impact humanitarian efforts and developmental progress. Key findings from a South Sudan case study show that mine contamination impacts humanitarian efforts directly through casualties, while dangers of agricultural development and hindrance to foreign investment are also primary developmental concerns for the South Sudanese.

Tracense Develops New Explosive Detector, News Brief

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Scientists at Tracense, a technology company in Tel Aviv, Israel, created a new nanotechnology explosive detector.

Evaluating Landmine-Detection Rats In Operational Conditions, Amanda Mahoney, Timothy Edwards, Kate Lalonde, Christophe Cox, Bart Weetjens, Tekimiti Gilbert, Tess Tewelde, Alan Poling

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Researchers evaluate the accuracy of pouched rats’ ability to detect landmines under operational search conditions. Results indicate the ineffectiveness of one training method for maintaining quality operational performance and suggest further examination.

Evaluating The Mini Minewolf, Phil Straw

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The U.S. Department of Defense Humanitarian Research and Development Program conducted operational field evaluation to assess the capabilities of Mini MineWolf technology.

3-D Printed Landmines And Mine Clearance Tools, News Brief

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

3-D printing offers an inexpensive, customizable, mine action training solution to militaries and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams. 3-D printers use digital files to create objects, such as simulated landmines, with layers of molten plastic.

Issue 18.3 Endnotes, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Endnotes