Public Policy Commons^™

Activities And Achievements: Progress Report 2011-2013, Center For Governance And Sustainability, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Maria Ivanova, Craig Murphy, James Gustave Speth, Christiana Figueres, Alice Odingo

Center for Governance and Sustainability Publications

We joined the University of Massachusetts Boston in the fall of 2010 to develop a new doctoral program in global governance and human security, the first of its kind in the United States. In the spring of 2011, we launched the Center for Governance and Sustainability in an effort to bring academic rigor to real-world policy challenges in environment, development, and sustainability governance.

The Center is housed at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, which takes pride in offering a world-class interdisciplinary education and engaging in values-driven research, demonstrating a deep commitment to making a …

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 …

Water Governance In Bolivia: Policy Options For Pro-Poor Infrastructure Reform, Daniel M. Maxwell

CMC Senior Theses

As the case with most countries across Latin America, unprecedented migration to urban areas has strained city infrastructure systems. More particularly, the region faces a pressing crisis of water security, where rapid urbanization has outpaced water sector development. This thesis addresses the water infrastructure reform in El Alto and La Paz, Bolivia, focusing on strategies to better promote water access for the peri-urban poor. The research investigates the level of progressivity of water service expansion and pricing regimes: in other words, does the present model of water distribution positively improve the lives of the poorest groups? By investigating these social …

Government Regulation: From Independence To Dependency, Part One, Steven Alan Samson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

What Robert Bellah calls "expressive individualism" has led to unprecedented social legislation in America and expanded government employment since the 1960s, helping to produce a generous supply of public services, policy entrepreneurs, and clientele groups. The legal scholar Lawrence M Friedman notes that "the right to be 'oneself,' to choose oneself, is placed in a special and privileged position." As a consequence, "achievement is defined in subjective, personal terms, rather than in objective, social terms." When the claims of expressive individualism are considered in tandem with the increasing reach of the modern social service state, a case may be made …

Funding Defined Benefit State Pension Plans: An Empirical Evaluation, Cezar Brian C. Mamaril

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Defined Benefit (DB) state pension trust funds are an integral component of state finances and play a major role in the country’s labor and capital markets. The last decade though has seen a substantial growth in unfunded pension obligations and a seeming inability by states to make the contributions needed to cover funding shortfalls. When coupled with even larger unfunded retirement health benefits, the looming threat of insolvent state retirement systems pose both current and long-term fiscal challenges to state governments already struggling with the ongoing economic downturn and billions of dollars in budget deficits. The convergence of these factors …

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 …

Cultivating Reform: Richard Nixon's Illicit Substance Control Legacy, Medical Marijuana Social Movement Organizations, And Venue Shopping, Jason Scott Plume

Political Science - Dissertations

Over the course of the last two decades, organizations representing the medical marijuana social movement have campaigned for, proposed state level legislation, and supported numerous legal arguments that challenge and attempt to reform U.S. federal illicit substance policies. This set of social regulatory policies, commonly known as the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 (CSA), were drafted, promoted, and implemented by the Nixon Administration then subsequently entrenched by multiple presidents with acquiescent congresses adopting supplemental supply-side resource allocating legislation. My dissertation research uncoils the convoluted history and institutional dynamics of path dependent U.S. illegal drug control policies to answer the question …

Manager-In-Chief: Applying Public Management Theory To Examine White House Chief Of Staff Performance, David Cohen, Justin Vaughn, José Villalobos

Selected Works Temporary Series

In an effort to examine the causal determinants of performance dynamics for the administrative presidency, we apply empirical public management theory to White House administration to explain managerial performance. Utilizing original survey data that measures the perceptions of former officials from the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton administrations, we conduct quantitative analyses to determine the extent to which a chief of staff’s background, relationship with the president, and internal as well as external management approaches shape overall perceptions of White House administrative efforts. We find that managerial dimensions matter considerably when explaining the dynamics of White House organizational performance.

Manager-In-Chief: Applying Public Management Theory To Examine White House Chief Of Staff Performance, David Cohen, Justin Vaughn, José Villalobos

Departmental Papers (PS)

In an effort to examine the causal determinants of performance dynamics for the administrative presidency, we apply empirical public management theory to White House administration to explain managerial performance. Utilizing original survey data that measures the perceptions of former officials from the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton administrations, we conduct quantitative analyses to determine the extent to which a chief of staff’s background, relationship with the president, and internal as well as external management approaches shape overall perceptions of White House administrative efforts. We find that managerial dimensions matter considerably when explaining the dynamics of White House organizational performance.

Sitting With Oprah, Dancing With Ellen: Presidents, Daytime Television, And Soft News, José Villalobos

Selected Works Temporary Series

On July 29, 2010, President Barack Obama took to the air on "The View" to talk politics, policy, and family. Pundits billed the visit as the first time a sitting U.S. president appeared in a daytime television program. The telecast drew about 6.7 million viewers, the highest rating ever for the show, and garnered the largest number of women viewers in 17 months. However, whether and to what extent Obama succeeded in getting his message out and endearing himself to female voters remains an open question that merits further scholarly inquiry. In this chapter, I put Obama’s visit to "The …

Sitting With Oprah, Dancing With Ellen: Presidents, Daytime Television, And Soft News, José Villalobos

Departmental Papers (PS)

On July 29, 2010, President Barack Obama took to the air on "The View" to talk politics, policy, and family. Pundits billed the visit as the first time a sitting U.S. president appeared in a daytime television program. The telecast drew about 6.7 million viewers, the highest rating ever for the show, and garnered the largest number of women viewers in 17 months. However, whether and to what extent Obama succeeded in getting his message out and endearing himself to female voters remains an open question that merits further scholarly inquiry. In this chapter, I put Obama’s visit to "The …

Politics Or Policy? How Rhetoric Matters To Presidential Leadership Of Congress, José Villalobos, Justin Vaughn, Julia Azari

Selected Works Temporary Series

In this study, we examine the linkage between presidential policy proposal messages and legislative success. Employing a dataset on presidential legislative proposals that covers the years 1949-2010, we find that politics matters less than policy. Purely political messages that reference the electoral logic of mandates or appeal to a sense of bipartisanship appear to have no impact on presidential legislative success, nor does policy signaling, though highlighting the role of agency-based policy experts in crafting legislation does. From these results, we conclude that although the way presidents communicate their messages to Congress represents an important component of presidential-legislative relations, it …

The Policy Czar Debate, Justin Vaughn, José Villalobos

Selected Works Temporary Series

Presidential policy czars have been an important and powerful component of President Barack Obama’s approach to management and leadership in the first part of his time in office. By using czars, the President has been able to demonstrate the importance of policy issues, both to his own agenda and to the broader political system. In this chapter, we find that performance outcomes for these czars have been a mixed bag, with as many stories of success to report as tales of frustration and failure. As such, we posit that the cost of czars, in political and organizational terms, has outweighed …

Politics Or Policy? How Rhetoric Matters To Presidential Leadership Of Congress, José Villalobos, Justin Vaughn, Julia Azari

Departmental Papers (PS)

In this study, we examine the linkage between presidential policy proposal messages and legislative success. Employing a dataset on presidential legislative proposals that covers the years 1949-2010, we find that politics matters less than policy. Purely political messages that reference the electoral logic of mandates or appeal to a sense of bipartisanship appear to have no impact on presidential legislative success, nor does policy signaling, though highlighting the role of agency-based policy experts in crafting legislation does. From these results, we conclude that although the way presidents communicate their messages to Congress represents an important component of presidential-legislative relations, it …

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.

The Policy Czar Debate, Justin Vaughn, José Villalobos

Departmental Papers (PS)

Presidential policy czars have been an important and powerful component of President Barack Obama’s approach to management and leadership in the first part of his time in office. By using czars, the President has been able to demonstrate the importance of policy issues, both to his own agenda and to the broader political system. In this chapter, we find that performance outcomes for these czars have been a mixed bag, with as many stories of success to report as tales of frustration and failure. As such, we posit that the cost of czars, in political and organizational terms, has outweighed …

Ocean Governance: The New Zealand Dimension Full Report, Michael Vincent Mcginnis

Working Papers

The primary goal of this report is to provide interested members of the public and policymakers with a general overview and a description of the types of principles, planning tools, and policy instruments that can be used to strengthen and improve marine governance in New Zealand. As extractive uses (hydrocarbons and minerals, in particular) ramp up and others are explored and brought on line in the marine areas of New Zealand, the need will increase for a more integrative, ecosystem-based approach to marine governance.

This study is based on the following types of analysis:

• a review of the literature …

Homicide By Neighborhood: Mapping New York City’S Violent Crime Drop, Preeti Chauhan, Lauren Kois

Publications and Research

Researchers, scholars, and policymakers interested in the falling rate of violent crime in New York City (NYC) have attempted to pinpoint causes of the welcome trend. Discovering the causes of the city’s crime drop may lead to important lessons for the city itself and may influence policy and practice throughout the state, nation, and perhaps other countries. Researchers have suggested a host of mechanisms that may explain the dramatic decline in violence, but two factors—misdemeanor policing and the transformation of drug markets—continue to receive the most attention. This report focuses on these factors in relation to gun-related homicide rates. It …

It Will Be An Ugly Winter (Again) This Year: A Case Study Of The Vermont Community Action Partnership's Perennial Fight For Low-Income Fuel Assistance Programs, Elizabeth H. Bennett

Capstone Collection

Despite the extraordinary need for the vital Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the program has seen major budget cuts as part of the Federal Budget’s Discretionary spending, even as fuel prices rise and incomes fall. The Vermont Community Action Partnership (VCAP – also known as the Vermont CAP Directors) has been the primary advocate for LIHEAP in Vermont. This case study examines VCAP’s measures to advocate for level funding of the LIHEAP program at the federal level, as well as influencing state level decision makers to improve service delivery to Vermont’s eligible low-income households.

This study combines in-depth …

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 …

Community-Engaged Decision Support For Foreclosed Housing Acquisition And Redevelopment In Boston, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

This project develops decision tools and analytical methods to help non‐profit community development corporations (CDCs) acquire and redevelop foreclosed housing for neighborhood stabilization and revitalization. Interviews and direct observations at partner CDCs have helped us identify current practices, data and requirements for our decision models. Problem‐structuring methods through CDC focus groups have generated core operational and organizational objectives. Spreadsheet‐ and optimization based decision models generate policy and operational alternatives that address multiple resident and community outcomes. Our research will support efficient responses to the recent foreclosure crisis, especially in distressed neighborhoods, and suggest policy implications at local and national levels.

James A. Garfield: 20th President Of The United States, José Villalobos

Selected Works Temporary Series

President James A. Garfield served for only 200 days before an assassin’s bullets ended his unlikely rise to power. Garfield was the last “log cabin” president and a life-long Republican, both in the tradition of his predecessor, Ulysses Grant. In his lifetime, he served honorably as educator, general, and politician. His surprising nomination for president in 1880 earned him the nickname of the “Dark Horse” candidate, and his victory in the general election sealed his place in history as a U.S. president. His rise to power and tragic death highlight an important episode of the Gilded Age. Although Garfield’s time …

James A. Garfield: 20th President Of The United States, José Villalobos

Departmental Papers (PS)

President James A. Garfield served for only 200 days before an assassin’s bullets ended his unlikely rise to power. Garfield was the last “log cabin” president and a life-long Republican, both in the tradition of his predecessor, Ulysses Grant. In his lifetime, he served honorably as educator, general, and politician. His surprising nomination for president in 1880 earned him the nickname of the “Dark Horse” candidate, and his victory in the general election sealed his place in history as a U.S. president. His rise to power and tragic death highlight an important episode of the Gilded Age. Although Garfield’s time …

Ford Foundation, José Villalobos

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Ford Foundation, José Villalobos

Departmental Papers (PS)

No abstract provided.

Staff Of The People? Assessing Progress In Descriptive Representation Under The Obama Administration, José Villalobos

Selected Works Temporary Series

Over the past few decades, presidents have made some increasingly noticeable efforts to fill their administrations with a higher number of minorities. Though not yet fully representative of the general public, such advances in descriptive representation are a sign of progressive change occurring within the executive branch, with positive potential implications for the state of representative democracy and public policy. In this article, I survey the current state of descriptive representation under the Obama presidency and the extent to which the president’s policy agenda has substantively addressed the needs of historically underrepresented groups. Descriptively, I find that President Barack Obama …

Staff Of The People? Assessing Progress In Descriptive Representation Under The Obama Administration, José Villalobos

Departmental Papers (PS)

Over the past few decades, presidents have made some increasingly noticeable efforts to fill their administrations with a higher number of minorities. Though not yet fully representative of the general public, such advances in descriptive representation are a sign of progressive change occurring within the executive branch, with positive potential implications for the state of representative democracy and public policy. In this article, I survey the current state of descriptive representation under the Obama presidency and the extent to which the president’s policy agenda has substantively addressed the needs of historically underrepresented groups. Descriptively, I find that President Barack Obama …

Who Benefits From Early Childcare Subsidy Design In Ireland?, Bernie O'Donoghue Hynes, Noirin Hayes

Articles

Best Newcomer Article

The design of policy tools reveals underlying biases that are not easily identified in policy documents. A review of two early childhood education and care subsidies in Ireland aimed at different target populations exposes differential treatment of children, parents and service providers. It also demonstrates how in a split system ‘early education’ is prioritised over ‘childcare’. The designs serve to reinforce stereotypes that enable the powerful and advantaged to accrue benefits while those perceived to be less deserving are burdened through the maldistribution of resources.

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.

Decision Models For Housing And Community Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

Decision science provides tools and methods to support strategy design and operations in housing and community development by generating guidance regarding the number, type, location and development process of housing units in order to balance objectives such as social benefits and costs, tenure mix and equity. These decision models address the needs of multiple stakeholders, reflect the public and private nature of housing, and incorporate best-available evidence regarding markets, policies and impacts of housing and community development. This chapter reviews applications over the past 30 years and describe current applications in decision support for housing and community development, including: affordable …