Public Administration Commons^™

The Challenge Of Regulatory Excellence, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

Regulation is a high-stakes enterprise marked by tremendous challenges and relentless public pressure. Regulators are expected to protect the public from harms associated with economic activity and technological change without unduly impeding economic growth or efficiency. Regulators today also face new demands, such as adapting to rapidly changing and complex financial instruments, the emergence of the sharing economy, and the potential hazards of synthetic biology and other innovations. Faced with these challenges, regulators need a lodestar for what constitutes high-quality regulation and guidance on how to improve their organizations’ performance. In the book Achieving Regulatory Excellence, leading regulatory experts …

Social Media For Senior Citizens: An Introductory Course, Cheryl Raistrick

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

The Woburn Council on Aging is a municipal, volunteer board appointed by the Mayor of Woburn. The Woburn COA operates the Woburn COA Senior Center as a resource for the community's senior citizen population. The Senior Center provides information, referrals, information, outreach, advocacy, transportation, health screening, nutrition, education, peer support, recreation, volunteer development and intergenerational programming for members of the community. Educational programs on the use of technology are offered monthly at the Woburn COA Senior Center though members have expressed interest in learning more about social media applications and how they can be used to communicate with family and …

Policy Dissemination: Public Administration Theory And International Organizations | A Case Study On The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities In The Kingdom Of Morocco, Rachelle Ann Wilson

Capstone Projects – Politics and Government

With the advent of international organizations comes international law. Unprecedented at such a global and influential level, there is no theoretical framework within public administration explicitly focused on administrative structure and strategies for the implementation of international law. Consequently, the current administrative literature and theoretical framework must be looked to and transposed, as much as possible, to the international stage. This paper explores public administration theory and how it would manifest if applied to international policy implementation. By taking a closer look into the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implementation strategy within the …

Dawnbreaker Vol 63 No 2 (Winter 2016-2017), Dawnbreaker Staff

Maine Women's Publications - All

No abstract provided.

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Scotts Bluff National Monument, 2016 Data Report, Molly B. Davis, Daniel J. Swanson

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2016 at Scotts Bluff National Monument (SCBL) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire).

During the sixth full year of field work, crew members from NGPN visited eight long-term monitoring plots on May 23-25, 2016 to collect data on the plant communities at SCBL. This is part of a long-term monitoring effort to better understand the condition of the vegetation at SCBL. NGPN staff captured data relating to species richness, herb-layer height, abundance of individual native and non-native …

Measuring Organizational Climate At The Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District, Sarah E.A. Floyd

School of Social Work

The aim of this study was to answer the question, according to the Competing Values Framework, what is the organizational climate of the Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District (ATCPHD)? Organizational climate for this study refers to the collective perceptions of employees on their interactions with their peers, management, and the organization. This study surveyed the 64 employees at the ATCPHD with the Organizational Climate Measure (OCM). Forty employees participated in the study. The study determined that the climate of the ATCPHD, according to Competing Values Framework (CVF), was the Human Relations organizational climate with a secondary climate of Relational Goals. …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 2016 Data Report, Aaron T. Rasor, Daniel J. Swanson

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2016 at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN).

During the sixth full year of field work, crew members from NGPN visited six long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots and the Northern Great Plains Fire Effects Crew (NGPFire) visited nine fire plant community monitoring (FPCM) plots to collect data on the plant communities at AGFO. This effort is part of a long-term monitoring program established to better understand the condition of the mixed-grass prairie, riparian, and upland regions in AGFO. …

How Green Are Green Economists?, Stefano Carattini, Alessandro Tavoni

CSLF Articles

This paper analyzes the decision of “green” economists to participate in the carbon offset market, and how this decision is related with the views that these experts hold on offsets. It also compares the preferences of economists with those of the general public, as emphasized in the literature. The paper exploits a unique dataset examining the decision to purchase carbon offsets at two academic conferences in environmental and ecological economics. We find that having the conference expenses covered by one's institution increases the likelihood of offsetting, but practical and ethical reservations as well as personal characteristics and preferences also play …

Government Capacity And The Acquisition, Implementation, And Impact Of Arra Funds, Nakhyeok Choi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined transportation grants provided to states under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Some states acquired more grants and utilized them in a timelier manner than others. This dissertation examined why this is the case, utilizing System Theory and Resource Based Theory as the intellectual framework. Human resource and financial resource capacities were viewed as the principal drivers of success and studying this managerially controllable variables underpin the analysis.

Though many studies have examined ARRA since 2009, my dissertation is the first to simultaneously examine the three stages of the ARRA transportation grant process: acquisition, …

Struggling To Get It Right: Performance Measurement Challenges And Strategies For Addressing Them Among Funders Of Human Services., David Campbell, Kristina T. Lambright

Public Administration Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines the challenges public and nonprofit human service funders face in the performance measurement process and the strategies they use to address these challenges. We use survey and interview data to compare funders’ experiences across a region. Common challenges included dissatisfaction with formal data collection procedures, difficulty getting providers to comply with reporting requirements, provider performance problems and lack of capacity to use performance information. Capacity issues were a greater concern for smaller funders. Funders used a variety of strategies to address challenges. Use of some strategies depended on context. Practices were relatively consistent across funder groups.

The 2016 Election: Women In The Massachusetts Legislature, Center For Women In Politics And Public Policy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

This Fact Sheet offers an analysis of female representation in the Massachusetts Legislature, as of the 2016 Election.

Perspectives On The Development Of A Local Food System: The Case Of Dayton, Ohio, Diana Cuy Castellanos, John C. Jones, Joanne Christaldi, Katherine A. Liutkus

Health and Sport Science Faculty Publications

Multiple sectors play vital roles in a community’s development and maintenance of a sustainable local food system. This study explored the perceptions of twenty-two representatives from the civil society, public, and private sectors in Dayton, Ohio, about the development of the region’s local food system. The researchers employed grounded theory methodology for data collection and analysis. Core themes from the participants of each sector group emerged from the data and areas of convergence and divergence among groups were reported.

Policy Snapshot: Current State Efforts, Action, And Progress On Key Issues,, Center For Women In Politics And Public Policy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

Policy Snapshot created for the New England Women's Police Conference 2016: Ensuring Economic Equality for All Women and Their Families.

Improving Public Engagement And Public Records Management At The Oregon Department Of Environmental Quality, Portland State University. Hatfield School Of Government. Center For Public Service, Phil Keisling, Dan Marriott, Marcus Ingle, Sara Saltzberg, Andrew Dzeguze

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

In February 2016, researchers from the US Forest Service had detected toxics in moss samples adjacent to several businesses in Portland. This began a series of events that highlighted both the significance of public records requests and the difficulty Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has in responding to complex requests.

The interest in issues related to air toxics put a strain on the capacity of the agency to respond in a timely fashion to the news media as well as citizens groups.

In August 2016, DEQ retained the Center for Public Service (CPS) to provide an outside evaluation of …

Municipal E-News: Issue 81: October 2016, Mtas

Municipal E-News

The “Municipal E-News” was created by MTAS in 2009 as part of our continuing efforts to meet our mission of providing timely, valuable information and assistance to Tennessee cities.

Bringing The 21st-Century Governance Paradigm To Public Affairs Education: Reimagining How We Teach What We Teach, Nadia Rubaii

Public Administration Faculty Scholarship

Effective governance in the 21st-century demands a different set of competencies than prior generations, with greater emphasis on collaborative leadership, global intercultural competence, and the ability to respond nimbly to rapidly changing circumstances. Many public affairs programs have changed curriculum content to place greater emphasis on these topics. Given the extent to which such changes are altering how public issues are defined, how policies are adopted, and how programs and services are delivered as much as what those problems, policies, and programs are, then how we teach is arguably as important as what we teach. This article argues that current …

Environment, Equity And Economic Development Goals: Understanding Differences In Local Economic Development Strategies, Xue Zhang, George C. Homsy

Public Administration Faculty Scholarship

What role do local governments play in promoting sustainable economic development? This article uses a 2014 national survey to analyze the relationship between local environment and social equity motivations and the kinds of economic development strategies local governments pursue (business incentives or community economic development policies). Municipalities that pay more attention to environmental sustainability and social equity use higher levels of community economic development tools and lower levels of business incentives. These places are also more likely to have written economic development plans, and involve more participants in the economic development process. By contrast, communities that employ higher levels of …

Emergency Medical Services And Public Policy In Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, John Buyske

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project seeks to explore the realities of the emergency medical system in the Durban area, particularly relative to government policy. It contextualizes its findings within the literature on public policy. Data for the project was collected via nine in-depth interviews with various professionals working in the field of emergency medical services, as well as a survey of fourteen citizens conducted in the peri-urban township of Cato Manor. This data was analyzed using qualitative methods. While every participant had different views and a different perspective on emergency services, some recurring themes and trends became evident, allowing for conclusions to be …

Dawnbreaker Vol 63 No 1 (Fall 2016), Dawnbreaker Staff

Maine Women's Publications - All

No abstract provided.

Who Cares How Congress Really Works?, Ryan David Doerfler

All Faculty Scholarship

Legislative intent is a fiction. Courts and scholars accept this by and large. As this Article shows, however, both are confused as to why, and, more importantly, as to what this entails.

This Article argues that the standard account of why legislative intent is a fiction—that Congress is a “they,” not an “it”—rests on an overly simplistic conception of shared agency. Drawing on contemporary work in philosophy of action, this Article contends that Congress as such has no intentions not because of difficulties in aggregating the intentions of individual members, but rather because Congress lacks the sort of delegatory structure …

A Study Of Social Security Disability Litigation In The Federal Courts, Jonah B. Gelbach, David Marcus

All Faculty Scholarship

A person who has sought and failed to obtain disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (“the agency”) can appeal the agency’s decision to a federal district court. In 2015, nearly 20,000 such appeals were filed, comprising a significant part of the federal courts’ civil docket. Even though claims pass through multiple layers of internal agency review, many of them return from the federal courts for even more adjudication. Also, a claimant’s experience in the federal courts differs considerably from district to district around the country. District judges in Brooklyn decide these cases pursuant to one set of procedural rules …

Summary Of 2016 Public Acts, Elisha Hodge

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

This report summarizes the year's public acts that have the most significant impact on municipal operations. Users of this report are cautioned that much judgment is involved in determining which Public Acts to summarize and how to summarize them. Before taking action or giving advice based upon any Public Act summarized here, one should consult the act itself and not rely on the summary.

The Effect Of Social Capital On Organizational Performance In Different Cultures: A Cross-National Comparison Of The United States And South Korea, Jung Hyun Song

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of social capital on organizational performance of local government and whether the effect varies across national cultures. The study hypothesized that organizational level social capital in a public sector organization has a positive influence on organizational performance. To investigate the relationship, surveys were sent to public officials of local government organizations in the city of Omaha in the United States and Wonju city in South Korea. Based on Hofstede’s definition of national culture, these two countries contrast strongly on important cultural characteristics. The two cities were selected as typical …

Capturing Regulatory Reality: Stigler’S The Theory Of Economic Regulation, Christopher Carrigan, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper offers a retrospective assessment of economist George Stigler’s classic article, The Theory of Economic Regulation. Stigler argued that regulation is a product that, just like any other product, is produced in a market, and that it can be acquired from the governmental “marketplace” by business firms to serve their private interests and create barriers to entry for potential competitors. He challenged the idea that regulation arises solely to serve the public interest and demonstrated that important political advantages held by businesses can contribute to industry capture of the regulatory process. Although his argument was largely based on …

Administrative Law: The U.S. And Beyond, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

Administrative law constrains and directs the behavior of officials in the many governmental bodies responsible for implementing legislation and handling governance responsibilities on a daily basis. This field of law consists of procedures for decision making by these administrative bodies, including rules about transparency and public participation. It also encompasses oversight practices provided by legislatures, courts, and elected executives. The way that administrative law affects the behavior of government officials holds important implications for the fulfillment of democratic principles as well as effective governance in society. This paper highlights salient political theory and legal issues fundamental to the U.S. administrative …

Municipal E-News: Issue 80: July 2016, Mtas

Municipal E-News

The “Municipal E-News” was created by MTAS in 2009 as part of our continuing efforts to meet our mission of providing timely, valuable information and assistance to Tennessee cities.

Report On Compiling And Analyzing Manufactured Housing Tax Records:, Portland State University. Hatfield School Of Government. Center For Public Service, Stephanie Hawke, Robert Cheney, Aaron Kaufman

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

In January of 2016, the Center for Public Service (CPS) was approached by Energy Trust of Oregon to conduct a review of the tax assessor data on manufactured houses in Oregon. The purpose of this review was to find the average age at which manufactured housing units in Oregon are decommissioned. A brief review of the literature on this topic that has been published indicated that this question had not yet been answered in the field.

Energy Trust Oregon is invested in making manufactured housing living more energy efficient, and less costly for occupants. To that end, the organization designed …

Organizational Social Capital And Performance Information Use: Analyzing The Link And Its Implications For Public Management, Michele Tantardini

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of performance information is the backbone of performance management. Performance information use refers to the willingness of public managers or other relevant stakeholders to incorporate quantitative or qualitative data in their decision-making. Both routine and nonroutine performance information is considered essential in managers’ decision making. Understanding the organizational factors that motivate public managers to use performance information is an important topic in the literature and practice of performance management.

Although the number of studies on information use is growing, little is known about the impact of Organizational Social Capital (OSC). OSC is composed of the sub-dimensions of social …

The Bounds Of Executive Discretion In The Regulatory State, Cary Coglianese, Christopher S. Yoo

All Faculty Scholarship

What are the proper bounds of executive discretion in the regulatory state, especially over administrative decisions not to take enforcement actions? This question, which, just by asking it, would seem to cast into some doubt the seemingly absolute discretion the executive branch has until now been thought to possess, has become the focal point of the latest debate to emerge over the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers. That ever‐growing, heated debate is what motivated more than two dozen distinguished scholars to gather for a two‐day conference held late last year at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a conference organized …

Portland State 20/20 Newsletter, Strategic Planning Development Team, Portland State University. Office Of The President

Newsletters

The most current newsletter includes additional information about the implementation of the Strategic Plan and discusses the Equity Lens and student success.