Public Policy Commons^™

Oil Sands Extraction: Lessons From Alberta Can, And Should, Inform American Policies, Victoria Lopez

Pepperdine Policy Review

Enclosed is a final empirical project on foreign direct investment as impacted by (or impacting) infrastructure development levels in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

No Music In Timbuktu: A Brief Analysis Of The Conflict In Mali And Al Qaeda’S Rebirth, Nicholas Primo

Pepperdine Policy Review

State Department officials stated at the end of 2011 that after a careful review of year's events concerning the terror group Al Qaeda, the threat of terrorism was now greatly diminished with little chance of retunring. Less than four months later, Al Qaeda affiliate group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) staged a coup in the West African country of Mali, effectively splitting the country in half. The article will analyze the conflict in Mali as an example of how Islamic fundamentalism and global terrorism of Al Qaeda has not dissipated, despite the best hopes of American foreign policymakers. …

Mobile Health Technology In Developing Countries: The Case Of Tanzania, Shruti Modi

Pepperdine Policy Review

Mobile technology is one of the fastest growing industries. In rural parts of the world, mobile phones are more accessible than sanitation facilities and electricity. Mobile phones can be used to transmit health information, promote health awareness, track the spread of diseases, and ultimately decrease the prevalence of diseases. In particular, this study focuses on how mobile health technology, m-health, can reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria in Tanzania.

Financial Openness And Growth: 2000-2010, Amy Kennedy

Pepperdine Policy Review

In light of the recent financial crisis and economic downturn, policymakers are looking at other options to raise tax revenue. One such option proposed is a financial transaction tax which would tax various cross-border transactions such as banking or securities transactions. Yet, economic growth is arguably the better option for increasing revenue. One might further argue that a tax will lead to less revenue through reduced growth resulting from investors investing money in other tax free arenas. Therefore, this study looks at the relationship between financial openness and annual real GDP per capita growth to ascertain the effect of financial …

Can Clean Drinking Water And Sanitation Reduce Child Mortality In Senegal?, Catherine Bampoky

Pepperdine Policy Review

The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of clean drinking water, modern sanitation facilities and hygiene on child mortality rates in Senegal. Diarrhea-related morbidity is still fairly common among young children and this disease is mainly due to poor hygiene and environmental factors. Although extensive research has been done on the determinants of child mortality in Senegal, they were mainly descriptive studies that did not focus on a policy-related variable on which public policies could have a direct intervention. Using dummy dependent variable models, I find that drinking water source and sanitation facility are not individually statistically …

A Global Blasphemy Law: Protecting Believers At The Expense Of Free Speech, Kiley Widelitz

Pepperdine Policy Review

Since 1999, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation has annually introduced a resolution to the United Nations Human Rights Council to create an international blasphemy law. The United Nations is currently debating whether to accept a resolution that criminalizes blasphemy. In order to assess whether the United Nations should enact such a law, this article examines the laws of the United States in comparison to three countries that enforce their blasphemy laws: Indonesia, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. This article concludes that the United Nations should follow the way of the United States and forgo any restriction on blasphemy, as blasphemy laws …

Lessons Learned From Pakistan: A Dissertation On The Bush-Obama Drone Doctrine, Michael A. Pipa

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The first use of the modern day attack drone by the United States was in Afghanistan in mid 2002, and for the past 11 years attack drones have been used by the United States in as many countries as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. When considering the alternatives to using drones, such as sending marines on the ground to complete a mission or flying a piloted jet over enemy territory to gather intelligence, as well as the military power that the use of these vehicles projects, the attack drone has become the weapon of choice in the war on terror for …

Seizing Potential Opportunities Climate Change May Bring: The Case Of Sison, Pangasinan, Linda M. Peñalba, Dulce D. Elazegui, Jennylyn P. Jucutan

CPAf Policy Brief

This document is an output from the Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) programme funded by the Swedish Government through Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Netherlands Directorate for International Cooperation (DGIS) through the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), for the benefit of developing countries. However, the views expressed and information contained in it are made by the individual authors and not necessarily those of or endorsed by the Swedish government, SIDA, DFID, DGIS, CDKN or the entities managing the delivery of the SUMERNET, which can accept no responsibility …

Risk And Protective Factors For Recidivism Among Juveniles Who Have Offended Sexually, Andrew Spice, Jodi L. Viljoen, Natasha Elkovitch, Mario J. Scalora, Daniel Lee Ullman

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Literature on risk factors for recidivism among juveniles who have sexually offended (JSOs) is limited. In addition, there have been no studies published concerning protective factors among this population. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of risk and protective factors to sexual and nonsexual recidivism among a sample of 193 male JSOs (mean age = 15.26). Youths were followed for an average of 7.24 years following discharge from a residential sex offender treatment program. The risk factor opportunities to reoffend, as coded based on the Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offense Recidivism, was associated with …

Factor Structure And Construct Validity Of The Psychopathic Personality Inventory In A Forensic Sample, Valerie M. Gonsalves, Julia E. Mclawsen, Matthew T. Huss, Mario J. Scalora

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

A wealth of research has underscored the strong relationship between PCL-R scores and recidivism. However, mounting criticism cites the PCL-R's cumbersome administration procedures and failure to adequately measure core features associated with the construct of psychopathy (Skeem, Polaschek, Patrick, & Lilienfeld, 2011). In light of these concerns, this study examined the PPI and the PPI-R, which were designed to measure core personality features associated with psychopathy (Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005). Study one examined the PPI relative to the PCL-R and examined its factor structure. The instruments shared few significant correlations and neither the PCL-R nor the …

Preparing For The Adverse Impacts Of Projected Climate Change: The Case Of Santa Ignacia, Tarlac, Linda M. Peñalba, Dulce D. Elazegui, Samantha Geraldine G. De Los Santos

CPAf Policy Brief

This document is an output from the Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) programme funded by the Swedish Government through Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Netherlands Directorate for International Cooperation (DGIS) through the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), for the benefit of developing countries. However, the views expressed and information contained in it are made by the individual authors and not necessarily those of or endorsed by the Swedish government, SIDA, DFID, DGIS, CDKN or the entities managing the delivery of the SUMERNET, which can accept no responsibility …

Overcoming The Challenges Of Projected Climate Changes Impacts: The Case Of Tarlac City, Tarlac, Linda M. Peñalba, Dulce D. Elazegui, Samantha Geraldine G. De Los Santos

CPAf Policy Brief

This document is an output from the Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) programme funded by the Swedish Government through Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Netherlands Directorate for International Cooperation (DGIS) through the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), for the benefit of developing countries. However, the views expressed and information contained in it are made by the individual authors and not necessarily those of or endorsed by the Swedish government, SIDA, DFID, DGIS, CDKN or the entities managing the delivery of the SUMERNET, which can accept no responsibility …

Demographic Analysis Of Recovery Act Supported Jobs In Massachusetts, Quarters 1 And 2, 2011: Final Report, Carol Hardy-Fanta, Monica Lamboy, David Merwin, Paige Ransford, Meryl Thomson, Christian Weller

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

Since 2009, researchers have analyzed the economic and employment impact of ARRA spending and tax policies. The current report is possible due to the efforts of Massachusetts policymakers who went beyond federal reporting requirements to require additional reporting on the number of workers who received ARRA-funded pay. ARRA workers’ demographic characteristics were also collected as part of the Massachusetts’ ARRA reporting requirements to allow for transparency and determine the fiscal policy’s impact on the state and local economy. The Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Office (MassRRO) makes available much of these data on their website (www.mass. gov/recovery), including highlights for each …

Three Essays On Local Government Debt, Robert Greer

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

The local government tax-exempt debt market is a growing, and complex, sector of public finance. As local governments turn to debt financing the factors that contribute to interest costs of that debt have become important considerations for local government officials and politicians. Governance at the local level involves a network of overlapping governments some of which share a tax base. This system of overlapping governments that share a tax base are subject to externalities that arise from taxation, expenditures, and debt. These externalities are usually analyzed in terms of tax or expenditure reactions, but there are implications for local government …

Social Construction And Political Decision Making In The American Prison System(S), Jeremiah Olson

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

With over two million inmates, the United States’ prison population is the largest in the world. Nearly one in one hundred Americans are behind bars, either in prisons or pre-trial detention facilities. The rapid growth in incarceration is well-documented. However, social science explanations often stop at the prison gates, with little work on treatment inside prisons. This black box approach ignores important bureaucratic decisions, including the provision of rehabilitative services and the application of punishment.

This dissertation offers a systematic analysis of treatment decisions inside the American prisons. I use a mixed methods approach, combining multiple quantitative datasets with environmental …

The Rising Digital Missile Gap: The Security Threat Of The United States’ Cyber Inactivity, Christian Pedersen

Pepperdine Policy Review

Over the past two decades, the ubiquitousness of the internet has created new reals in which artistic expression, dialogue, and commerce have flourished. Yet the same technologies which bring about the conveniences of the modern age also carry the greatest threats to international security over the next few decades. Defense strategies and security protocols have failed to evolve at the same rate at which internet technologies have grown. While the eminence and complexity of cyber-attacks continues to be debatable, the fact remains that networks are vulnerable to attack by both foreign governments and non-state actors. Unless definitive and aggressive steps …

Supporting Healthy Lives And Vibrant Places: Learning About And Living The Collaborative Leadership Model, Lisa Deangelis, Maureen A. Scully, Andrea Wight

Emerging Leaders Program Team Projects

The 31 fellows in the 2012 UMass Boston Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) worked with community partners to investigate the theme, “Supporting Healthy Lives and Vibrant Places.” They worked in peer self-managed teams, in order to learn collaborative leadership skills first-hand, while engaging with stakeholders and issues where collaboration makes a difference. Their team projects addressed: best practices in corporate wellness initiatives, outreach to support health care access for homeless people, ways to grow awareness of the wide need for affordable housing, ideas for arts-based local economic development, broader funding sources to support innovative research on poverty, and ways to continue …

Women’S Political Leadership In Massachusetts, Paige Ransford, Meryl Thomson, Sarah Healey

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

The Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy (CWPPP) at UMass Boston’s McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies has been tracking the election of women at the municipal level in Massachusetts since 1996. In 2003, the Project expanded to include all New England states. CWPPP remains the only research center in the United States that regularly tracks women’s political representation at the local level.

Catastrophes And The Role Of Social Networks In Recovery: A Case Study Of St. Bernard Parish, La, Residents After Hurricane Katrina, Carrie E. Lasley

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the experiences of St. Bernard Parish, La., residents as they coped with the impact of the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. An estimated 50,000 St. Bernard Parish residents relocated to a new home one year after Katina in 2006, and many of those residents moved again. This study examines the effects of the decisions of St. Bernard residents to relocate or to return on their social connections. The utility, adaptability and durability of social networks of these residents will be explored to enrich our knowledge about the social effects …

The Leadership Of Sustainable Cities: A Multiple-Case Study Of Two Oregon Cities, Kenneth L. Weaver

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In order for cities to become more sustainable it is necessary for the leaders of the efforts to change the organizations and governments so that they understand and embrace what it means to be more sustainable. This study examined the change processes of two Oregon Cities, Corvallis and Eugene, that had made the choice to become more sustainable as a community. The approaches that the participant leaders used demonstrated the use of different ways of thinking about the leadership of change. The ways of thinking of the community leaders were formed by their unique personal backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and abilities. …

Pioneers Of Youth Justice Reform: Achieving System Change Using Resolution, Reinvestment, And Realignment Strategies, Douglas N. Evans

Publications and Research

In the past three decades, state and local governments implemented various reform strategies to reduce the youth justice system’s reliance on confinement facilities and serve as many youths as possible in their own homes or at least in their own communities when removal from the home is warranted. The various reform strategies may be conceptualized as relying on three distinct but interrelated mechanisms: resolution, reinvestment, and realignment (Butts and Evans 2011). Resolution refers to the use of managerial authority and administrative directives to influence system change; reinvestment entails using financial incentives to encourage system change, and realignment employs organizational and …

Changing Faces, Changing Voices: Hispanics And Georgia’S Spanish-Language Media Environment, D. Xavier Medina Vidal

Georgia Journal of Public Policy

Nathan Deal’s successful 2010 campaign to become Georgia’s 82nd governor included a promise to enact an Arizona-style immigration enforcement law in Georgia, a promise he kept when he signed HB 87 into law in May 2011. To be sure, the high saliency of immigration law enforcement and policy reform in Georgia has much to do with rapid growth of the state’s Hispanic population in recent years.

The Economic Impact Of The Pace University Athletic Department, Rebecca Tekula, Anna-Kay Sinclair Mpa

Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

No abstract provided.

Resolution, Reinvestment, And Realignment: Three Strategies For Changing Juvenile Justice, Jeffrey A. Butts, Douglas N. Evans

Publications and Research

In recent decades, legislators and administrators have created innovative policies to reduce the demand for expensive state confinement and to supervise as many young offenders as possible in their own communities. This report reviews the history and development of these strategies and portrays their methods as following one of three models: resolution, reinvestment, and realignment.

Colloquium Brief: American Society And Its Profession Of Arms, Leonard Wong

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

No abstract provided.

Process Evaluation Of The Chicago Juvenile Intervention And Support Center, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Researchers investigated the operations of a pre-court diversion program that provides services and supports to station adjusted youth offenders after contacting the Chicago Police Department but before they have been formally arrested and referred to the Cook County Juvenile Probation Department. The purpose of the study was to determine the suitability of the program for evaluation and to work with staff to enact any procedural modifications that may be needed to facilitate future evaluation activities.

Why Do Some Nations Have More Renewable Energy Policies?, Melissa Dahl

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Some nations have considerably more renewable energy policies than others and this research is attempting to discover why. Renewable energy use is quickly growing in our world and has become a major topic in today’s politics. Existing literature suggests various theories as to why some nations have more renewable energy policies than others. I test these theories with data from two major data sources; REN21, the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, and the International Energy Agency. I anticipate that nations with a larger number of effective political parties, higher GDPs, and larger population would have more renewable …

Federal Earmarks In The State Of Georgia, Jeffrey Lazarus

Georgia Journal of Public Policy

Earmarks have been controversial ever since becoming a prominent part of the congressional spending process. Critics charge that earmarks fund projects with little or no economic value (for instance Ted Stevens’ “Bridge to Nowhere,”) but instead allow Congress members to direct government spending to campaign contributors (the charge leading to a federal investigation of the now-defunct lobbying firm PMA Group). On the other side of the controversy, congressional earmarks do fund a number of community improvements which are very valuable, at least locally. In Georgia, the fiscal 2010 appropriations bills included earmarks which allocated $450,000 to update College Park’s emergency …

Those Pesky Winds Of Change..., Walter Lotze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

When a police officer slapped a fruit seller by the name of Mohammed Bouazizi in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, nobody could have anticipated that a revolution had commenced. Bouazizi, a twenty-six-year-old computer science graduate unable to find work, had resorted to selling fruit from a street cart in an attempt to support himself and his seven siblings. Slapped by the police officer and ordered to pack up his goods, Bouazizi himself snapped. He marched to the local governor’s office and demanded an appointment, threatening to set himself alight if the governor did not meet with him. In frustration, …

Hastening The Wheels Of Change: International Cold War Pressure And Civil Rights Reform During The Truman Presidency, Caley A. Robertson

Honors Theses

In the early Cold War arena, international pressure on the United States to live according to its ideological rhetoric enabled the Truman Administration to set a precedent for federal engagement in domestic civil rights reform. As the United States led the march to institutionalise human rights as the standard of moral legitimacy in the global arena, the country’s grisly record of racial oppression and violence invited foreign and domestic criticism alike. This paper intends to prove five discrete points. First: Cold War tensions brought questions of moral legitimacy to the forefront of the U.S. national agenda. Second: during the Truman …