Public Policy Commons^™

The Causes And Effects Of Get Tough: A Look At How Tough-On-Crime Policies Rose To The Agenda And An Examination Of Their Effects On Prison Populations And Crime, Cheyenne Morales Harty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The paper analyzes the rise of get-tough crime legislation to the American public policy agenda and examines the effects of these policies on crime and inmate populations. Get-tough policies analyzed include sentencing reform, the War on Drugs and collateral consequences. Because there is no empirical literature on the effect of collateral consequences on crime, the paper employed an OLS regression model partly derived from institutional anomie theory to test for criminogenic effects. The study then employed OLS regression analysis to determine the affect of these independent variables on crime rates in each of the 50 states. The study concluded that …

Federal Neighborhood Stabilization Policy Deployment In Select Florida Jurisdictions, Kevin Carl Mccarthy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2008 the Federal government enacted a Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) to address the neighborhood effects of the late-2000s foreclosure crisis. Congress subsequently funded a second and third NSP. This research employs mixed methods to examine the effectiveness of the first round of the NSP in three Florida jurisdictions. The results are analyzed within the larger context of substantive housing theory and federal housing policy. The success of the program is evaluated using a mixed-scanning procedural planning theoretical framework.

Talking About Talk: The Problem Of Communication As An Object Of Study In Public Participation Research, Lauren Leigh Cutlip

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When citizens participate in risk assessment and decision-making for environmental and other issues that affect members of the public, more robust decisions may be made. Public participation in policy decisions is not only more democratic, but it also enables members of the public to contribute valuable expertise to the decision-making process. However, the development of an effective forum for such participatory projects has been difficult. Participation mechanisms that foster dialogue and interactive exchange between participants have been regarded as the most beneficial, but the practical application of these mechanisms has been observed to be problematic. The goal of this study …

"People...Do Not Come With Standardized Circumstances": Toward A Model For An Anthropology Of E-Government, Marc K. Hebert

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many Americans appreciate the availability and ease of using government websites to conduct their business with the state. What then of the most vulnerable in society? How do they access and use a standardized application process for government assistance, considering their potential resource, educational and physical constraints? Many go to public libraries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which shifts the responsibility to help applicants from the government agency administering the program to local actors whose primary duties lie elsewhere.

The aim of this research is to document the experiences of three groups of people, primarily located in a central Florida, urban …