Public Policy Commons^™

The True Cost Of Education, William J. Norris Iii

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

Education, rightfully, has been seen as the best way to train the next generation of citizens. The Founding Fathers held that it was essential for the nation’s growth to teach children citizenship and virtue. With the recent expansion of school choice options across the country, this is a good time to refocus on that goal, and examine the true cost of public education in America. This study will examine data, particularly information published by the Department of Education and the U.S. Census Bureau, to form a picture of the true cost of public education. Even though a large percentage of …

City On A Hill: A Reflection On Christian Ethic And Human Morality, Mayce Combs

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

In John Winthrop’s sermon A Model of Christian Charity (1630), he spoke to his congregation of the mission God had called them to. With the creation of a new blended nation, the only way to be exceptional was to reflect the gospel in policy, action, and foremost thought. Philosophers from ancient times to today acknowledge that an individual is made up of the soul and their body. From the soul, comes thought, reason, empathy, and a connection to a divine being who deciphers what is morally unjust. The body is a sinful, self-seeking vessel that does not have the ability …

The Impact Of The Deinstitutionalization Policies On Homelessness, Henrique Krigner

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

Homelessness is a growing issue in America. In 2019 there were 567,715 homeless individuals in the United States, distributed in emergency shelters (63%) or residing unsheltered on streets (27%). In 2021, even though specialists argue that the Covid-19 restrictions greatly harmed an accurate counting, the total number of unsheltered homeless in America increased in 20%. Such increase became a central discussion not only to regular citizens and neighborhood associations, but it also became a great concern within the federal government which has been appropriating billions of dollars each year to “end homeless”.

Specialists point out that the growth of the …

Political Rhetoric And Civility: A Challenge To “The Legacy Of ‘Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness’”, Timothy P. O'Brien, Melissa O. Stewart

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

“As you stand for your values do so with gentleness and respect—that’s how we move our country forward.”

Mike Pence, 48^th Vice President of the United States of America (2017-2021)

Since the founding of the United States of America, political discourse has often taken an unpleasant and nasty tone. Partisan disagreement concerning public policy is normal and policy should be the subject of vigorous debate. Disagreement, bickering, and even fights on the floor of Congress, are not new phenomena. However, today there is a growing sense in the country that civility and intolerance are on the rise. This study …

Examining The Effects Of Student Loan Forgiveness And The Christian Perspective, Sarah Rogers

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

On August 24, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his plan for federal student loan forgiveness. The program allows individuals who make less than $125,000 a year and families under $250,000 relieve up to $10,000 of their loan debt. Those who fall under the Pell Grant program are able to relieve up to $20,000 of their debt. The reactions to this “revolutionary” program were mixed. Typically, those who the program would directly affect were very enthusiastic about this idea while those, most notably Republicans, were less than thrilled. While the idea is good in theory, the execution of debt forgiveness will …

The Nature Of Mimicry: An Evaluation Of Political Party Conflict And Its Implications In The United States, Bridget Gallagher

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

No abstract provided.

Deterioration Of The Tenth Amendment: Why Federalism’S Hierarchy Must Be Restored, Giana Depaul

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of State Level Covid-19 Stay-At-Home Orders On Death Rates, Stephen A. Langeland, Jose Marte, Kyle Connif

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

This paper attempts to examine a correlation between lockdown length and COVID-19 case rate, death rate and fatality rate. In March of 2020, the publishing of alarmist epidemiological models prompted government officials to enact sweeping emergency measures (Miltimore 2020). Notably, the Imperial College London model published by epidemiologist Neil Ferguson predicted a “best-case scenario” of 1.1 million COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. by August 2020. This model heightened concern that the hospital system would be overwhelmed, a reason cited by President Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force members, Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci, as justification for the “15 Days to Flatten the …

Antitrust In The Age Of Trump, Stephen Langeland

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

Calls for regulation of major tech giants are currently ringing out from both the left and right sides of the political spectrum, largely for different reasons (Soave 2020). The current DOJ antitrust suit against Google was undermined by murmurs of political motivation as former-Attorney General William Barr personally played a key role in pushing the investigation forward into a lawsuit. (Birnbaum 2020). Prior examples of this can be seen in the reportedly political motivation of the DOJ’s unsuccessful attempt to block the 2017 merger of President Trump’s nemesis CNN’s parent company Time Warner and AT&T following President Trump’s campaign trail …

096— Concealed Carry Laws Throughout The United States, Carver Kozlowski

GREAT Day Posters

Explaining the variance in states’ concealed carry laws (referring to the practice of carrying a handgun in public in a concealed fashion) is a topic that remains underexplored in academic literature. This study looks at nine variables—political, gun and crime-related, economic, and education-related—and uses a multinomial logistic regression analysis to detect differences between states with more or less restrictive concealed carry laws. Out of these variables, only two statistically significant relationships were found: states with the least restrictive concealed carry laws had fewer Republicans in the upper house of their state legislatures (this result was unexpected) and had higher gun …

283— Universal Basic Income: The Answer To Poverty?, Carver Kozlowski

GREAT Day Posters

In the wake of a global pandemic, increased workplace automation and competitiveness, and unprecedented levels of income inequality, welfare reform is among the most salient political issues of the day. As of November 2020, 11.7 percent of Americans are living under the poverty line and an astounding 63 percent report living paycheck-to paycheck-since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. One possible solution is the implementation of a nation-wide universal basic income (UBI) system. UBI is a relatively new term in American political vocabulary, garnering increased attention during the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. This paper argues that UBI should be taken …

220— Affirmative Action As Part Of Educational Reform In The U.S, Yadariselt Romano

GREAT Day Posters

Affirmative action is one of the most controversial topics in American politics as many groups fight for more expansive affirmative action while other groups are calling for their complete removal. Affirmative action in higher education is a series of policies that were enacted by the US government to ensure that historically underrepresented people were able to obtain academic opportunities from which they have been historically excluded from. However, almost sixty-one years later after the implementation of the first policies approved by JFK, has anything changed? This research will aim to evaluate whether various affirmative action policies across several states have …

The Pricing Impact Of The Decreasing Competitiveness Of The Health Insurance Market, Lauren N. Patterson

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

The Affordable Care Act created the national insurance exchanges of qualified health plans to encourage a higher insured rate, larger risk pools, and lower prices for quality health coverage. Consolidation of insurers can have opposing effects. The insurers’ risk pools will grow, allowing insurers to better hedge for risk. However, consolidation decreases the prevalence of competition in the market, and past research shows that insurer consolidation decreases market competition and increases prices.

I examine how the number of plans offered in a set market, pricing components, and county health variables impact the monthly premium pricing of plans sold on the …

Conference Schedule, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, Brookings Mountain West

The Political Demography and Geography of the Intermountain West Conference

The Intermountain West region, including Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, is the new swing region in American politics. Many national observers and commentators have only a superficial understanding of the profound economic, political, and social changes that continue to reshape this region. Brookings Mountain West is pleased to offer a collection of contemporary research papers on recent demographic trends that alter this region and its politics. These studies, including a public opinion survey that explores attitudes on state and national politics, alternative energy, education, deficits, health care, immigration, and other topics illuminate the political landscape of this …