Public Policy Commons^™

Leading Nonprofit Success Through Collaboration And Partnerships, Lakell Archer, Erica Bassett

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations play a crucial role in addressing societal challenges, yet they often operate in a competitive environment with limited resources. To maximize impact and long-term sustainability, strategic partnerships and cross-sector collaborations have emerged as essential approaches. This paper explores the benefits of nonprofit collaboration, emphasizing its role in creating strategic advantages, improving service delivery, fostering innovation, and ensuring long-term resilience. The discussion highlights how collaborative leadership is key to overcoming barriers such as competition for funding, misaligned objectives, and trust deficits among partners. By examining real-world examples, the paper illustrates how effective partnerships enhance resource sharing, streamline operations, …

A Narrative Review Of The Covid-19 Infodemic And Censorship In Healthcare, Mitchell Liester, Sohaib Ashraf, Patricia Callisperis, Hector Carvallo, Shankara Chetty, Robert Enzenauer, Carlos Franco-Paredes, Raul Pineda, Panagis Polykretis, Rachel Wilkenson, Peter Mccullough

Secrecy and Society

Ideological and financial motivations have undermined science for decades. In this narrative review, we explore how organizations and governments used misinformation, disinformation, censorship, and secrecy to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Various rationales for employing censorship and secrecy during the COVID-19 pandemic are examined including how organizations and governments create confusion about the risks associated with their products and blame avoidance to shift responsibility and to avoid accountability for their actions. Methods of censorship employed during the COVID-19 pandemic are reviewed, examples are provided, and the consequences of these actions are reviewed. Information included in this review was obtained from scientific …

Exploring The Strategies In Creating And Sustaining Commons : Organization, Mobilization, And Tactics In The Hong Kong Context, Ho Yin Mickey Wan

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

After experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest, and the migration wave in the post-2019 era, Hong Kong has undergone a rapid change in its social context. Facing the multifaceted aspects and complexities in the new context, this thesis hopes to explore the possibility of commons and commoning - a pluralistic concept that encompasses a set of principles for social practices in making a more inclusive society - to be a potential alternative, or at least a kind of hope mechanism to enhance people’s well-being amid the current predicament.

Drawing on the seminal literature of Elinor Ostrom, J. K. Gibson-Graham, and …

Researching The U.S. Senate Presidential Nominee Confirmation Process, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

The beginning of 2025 has seen renewed public attention and emphasis on the constitutionally mandated U.S. Senate confirmation process. This stems from the beginning of the second Trump Administration as its nominees navigate this process. The presentation provides historical background on this process, demonstrates what nominees, Senate oversight committees, and the full Senate in administering this process and enables readers to find out how to access information resources documenting this process. The confirmation process continues throughout presidential administrations and may involve little public attention and controversy or acute public attention and controversy. The contrasting 2025 confirmation experiences of Secretary of …

Amidst The Frenzy Over Deepseek Ai, Us Federal Science And Tech Policy Is A Mess Of Internal Contradictions, Yujia He

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

The release of the R1 model by the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, DeepSeek, shocked the US tech industry. Yujia He writes that while DeepSeek’s model may not be quite as superior compared to its competitors as originally thought, the Trump administration has responded to its innovations by further pushing for US leadership in AI. Taking a close look at US research and development policy under the second Trump administration, however, shows the significant disconnect between rhetoric and policy. Federal funding freezes and reduced funding for the National Science Foundation could have dire long-term consequences for research and international cooperation …

The Determining Factor Of Inconsistencies In French Feminist Foreign Policy In The Field Of Protection Against Women’S Violence, Sheila Salma Az-Zahra, Raden Maisa Yudono, Musa Maliki, Nurmasari Situmeang

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Stratégie internationale de la France pour l'égalité femmes-hommes (2018-2022) is an international strategy on gender promoted by the French Government. It aims to promote the value of gender equality and women's empowerment, especially in protecting women's rights from any acts of violence in the European Union. Unfortunately, the French Government has shown inconsistencies in the implementation of the feminist foreign policy, which has increased the number of violence from the beginning of this policy until nowadays. This research was conceived by a liberal feminism approach and conceptualized under the feminist foreign policy and patriarchy concepts to prove the determining factor …

Lessons For Public Policy From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Olga Shvetsova

Political Science Faculty Scholarship

In the early 2020s, as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, governments, bureaucracies, and health practitioners around the globe faced unforeseen tasks and responsibilities. The novelty and intensity of the crisis spurred innovation and experimentation in public policy, health policy, and crisis management. However, the pandemic also revealed bottlenecks and adverse incentives within policy framework and healthcare systems. From this experience, critical lessons emerged: the paramount importance of swift and well-informed policy responses and the ability to optimize ongoing policy response as the crisis unfolds.

Trust On Trial: How U.S. Foreign Policy Eroded Public Trust, Rawan Al-Samarrie

UROP Posters

Public trust in the U.S. government has declined sharply over the past several decades, falling from roughly 75% in the late 1950s to almost 15% today. This project examines how major U.S. foreign policy decisions, specifically during the Vietnam War, the post-9/11 Global War on Terror, and the ongoing conflict in Palestine, have contributed to this erosion of trust. Through qualitative analysis of historical records, public opinion data, and scholarly assessments of U.S. military actions and their global consequences, the research identifies recurring patterns in how government narratives, media framing, and revelations of human rights violations shape public perception. Findings …

An Analysis Of The Media’S Coverage Of The Kenyan 2022 Electoral Tallying Process: A Case Of Nation Media Group, Wanjiku Ruth Munyi

Master of Arts in Digital Journalism

In Kenya, the electorate has always turned to the media for information and clarity, especially in political processes such as elections. This is more vital for the citizenry when they feel their democratic rights are being suppressed. This study was limited to the 2022 presidential election tallying process and gathered information from the relevant stakeholders involved, including the NMG, the IEBC, political coalitions, and media and communication scholars. As a case study, the research was also limited to the case of NMG and used a variety of sources of information through triangulation of both methods and sources. To this end, …

Abortion On The Ballot: How Direct Democracy Shapes Abortion Policy Post-Dobbs, Serena E. Klebba

Honors Theses

Since the return of abortion policy to the states following Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), sixteen states have considered ballot measures addressing core questions of abortion access. Distinct from pre-2022 initiatives, these recent measures present binary choices on issues such as viability-based access, six-week bans, and the existence or repudiation of a right to abortion in state constitutions. Although existing scholarship generally frames initiatives and referendums as mechanisms that enhance congruence between public opinion and policy outcomes, this focus overlooks the broader effects of direct democratic processes on voters. I hypothesize that there is something unique in the …

Shared Tracks, Divided Rule: The Role Of Polycentrism In Shaping Public Transportation In U.S. Metropolises, Dev Purohit

Honors Theses

American public transportation is notably less comprehensive and efficient relative to peer nations. The reliance on private automobiles and commercial air travel for routes that can be served by high-speed rail is a uniquely American phenomenon. This inefficiency is deeply rooted in governance structures, where centralized decision-making has often failed to address the complexities of metropolitan transit systems spanning multiple jurisdictions. This project explores polycentric governance as a potential mechanism to address these shortcomings by fostering competition, enhancing collaboration, and promoting localized responsiveness within metropolitan transit systems. By developing an empirical inventory to measure governance polycentricity and comparing transit outcomes …

Essays On Public And Nonprofit Financial Management In Times Of Crisis, Junoh Jeon

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

This dissertation comprises three essays that examine critical aspects of public and nonprofit financial management, focusing on interorganizational relationships, local government influence, and financial reserve management in times of crisis.

The first essay examines how interorganizational relationships, specifically nonprofit organizations’ board interlocks, relate to their financial distress, depending on the temporal and spatial contexts. Organization-level fixed-effects regression analysis with Kentucky nonprofits from 2018 to 2022 shows that nonprofits with board interlocks in urban areas were less likely to experience financial distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. I suggest that board interlock acts as an adaptive buffering tool that helps manage resource …

Procedural Reform And One-Sided Litigation: Evaluating The Impact Of California’S Fair Debt Buying Practices Act, Kaitlyn Seever

CMC Senior Theses

This study evaluates whether California’s Fair Debt Buying Practices Act (CFDBPA), effective January 2014, improved litigation outcomes in consumer debt lawsuits. The CFDBPA sought to curb abusive practices by imposing heightened documentation requirements on debt buyers. Using a dataset of 535,766 limited-jurisdiction debt collection cases filed in Los Angeles County between 2012 and 2022, a constrained difference-in-differences event study design compares outcomes between secondary and non-secondary debt buyers before and after the law’s implementation.

The analysis finds modest changes: dismissals for secondary buyers increased slightly relative to non-secondary buyers, but default judgment rates remained high. Defendant response rates declined for …

A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Realism In U.S. Foreign Policy, Olivia M. Licata

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the influence of realist theory on U.S. foreign policy from 1776 to 2025. Through a temporal analysis of policy across three international power systems – multipolarity, bipolarity, and unipolarity – this paper determines that U.S. foreign policymakers follow realist prescriptions for state behavior given their perception of the United States’ status within the international balance of power system. As a result, the U.S. foreign policy has become rooted in realist assumptions and constrained to realism-prescribed behavior, which will ultimately lead to hegemonic decline. This paper calls for the reexamination of realist influences on foreign policy decision-making.

Healing Communities With Police Divestment: Seeking Abolition Through Transformative Reform And Community-Government Collaboration, Jessica E. Gillson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Concerns about the efficacy and sustainability of the U.S. carceral system have persisted throughout the country’s history, recently fueling renewed activism and bipartisan calls for reform. However, proposed solutions remain divisive. This thesis first defines the current status of our prison systems, then explores collaborative alternatives to incarceration and policing that support communities and break cycles of incarceration.

Focusing on partnerships among local governments, community organizations, justice-involved individuals, and law enforcement, this study examines holistic approaches to crime prevention, reentry, and reintegration. Using an interdisciplinary framework incorporating restorative justice, community resilience, and systems theory, it investigates how community-based strategies can …

Civilian Manufacturing And National Defense: Strategic Planning For Globalization's Challenges, Izeck Kohler

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis examines the interconnection between civilian manufacturing and national defense within the context of globalization. The study aims to identify the challenges faced by the United States in maintaining its manufacturing capabilities and to propose strategic solutions to address these challenges. Through a comprehensive analysis of historical data, case studies, and policy recommendations, the research highlights the critical role of specialized and process manufacturing sectors towards national defense. The findings suggest that the creation of a federal executive department, strategic investment, diversification, policy re-evaluation, and collaborating with allies are essential for sustaining national defense capabilities. The study concludes with …

The Connection Between Fragmentation And Traffic Stops, John Bulat

Wayne State University Dissertations

Throughout the United States, there are hundreds of metropolitan areas. For myriad reasons, the number of local governments within each metropolitan area varies. Some scholars argue that having too many local governments leads to inefficiencies and inequities for the metropolitan area as a whole and for its central city in particular (e.g., Wood, 1958; Dreier et al., 2014). Others maintain the opposite. They contend that having more local governments leads to greater competition between municipalities for citizens and businesses. This, in turn, keeps service costs low, leads to lower taxes, and provides greater choice for citizens in terms of places …

Passing The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: Gun Control After 30 Years, Kory Lohrmann

Wayne State University Dissertations

In June of 2022, the United States Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) after nearly 30 years of inaction. This dissertation analyzes why after decades of status quo maintenance (lack of gun control action), Congress decided to act following the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde Texas. This research uses hypotheses generated from Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) to compare six different mass shootings to examine what set the Uvalde shooting apart from other similar shooting within the last 15 years. This study analyzes media coverage, public opinion shifts, political saliences, election cycles, and victim characteristics to break down …

Examining Drug Policy In Portugal And Greece, Collin Fernandes

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the divergent drug policies implemented in Portugal and Greece, analyzing why Portugal's comprehensive decriminalization model has been more successful than Greece's partial approach. Since 2001, Portugal has pioneered a drug policy that decriminalizes all drugs for personal use while investing in harm reduction services, rehabilitation, and social reintegration. In contrast, Greece maintained criminalization while implementing more limited harm reduction measures, particularly through OKANA (the Organization Against Drugs). The research highlights how economic factors, particularly the 2008 financial crisis and austerity measures, negatively affected both countries' programs but hit Greece's initiatives with greater severity. Portugal's programs have remained …

Ineligible Partners: Tribal Nations And Cooperative Federalism In The Historical Development Of National Forest Law And Policy, James H. Baker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Lands within the National Forest System (NFS), like all federal public lands, are rooted in Aboriginal Title and were once exclusively inhabited by Indigenous peoples and communities. Through the process of treaty-making, the federal government amassed millions of acres of ceded Tribal lands, many of which are now managed by federal public land agencies, including 194 million acres managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Several Tribes reserved various use and property rights on these lands that are protected by the U.S. Constitution’s Treaty and Supremacy Clauses. The federal government also has an overarching trust obligation to Tribes – a …

The Position Of The United States Of America Vis-A-Vis The Question Of Western Sahara: Assessing The Role Of Think Tanks In The Conflict, Hamid Baadeche

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

ABSTRACT

The Position of the United States of America Vis-à-vis the Question of Western Sahara: Assessing the Role of Think Tanks in the Conflict

Hamid Baadeche

Think tank organizations, particularly in the United States, have become a prominent feature of the political landscape. They act as advocates for specific policies that they consider beneficial for the country or a particular societal group. They function as a primary source of information, which they then aim to transform into well-informed policies and sound decisions. They are referred to as "the revolving doors," "idea brokers," and "idea factory." As such, their foremost objective …

Securitization Of African Migrants In Europe And North America, Chick Edmond

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

The securitization of African migrants in Europe and North America refers to the framing of immigrants as an existential security threat rather than a socioeconomic or humanitarian concerns. This discourse driven by political rhetoric, media narratives, and policy measures, often depict African migrants as risks to national security, cultural identity, and economic stability. Governments in host countries employ stringent border controls, detention and deportation policies often justified by counterterrorism and crime prevention frameworks. However, critics argue that securitization exacerbates xenophobia, violates human rights, and fails to address root causes of migration, such as conflict, poverty, and climate change. This paper …

Nuclear Deterrence Strategies And The Balance Of Power In Europe, Chick Edmond

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

The beginning of the Cold War era indubitably defines nuclear deterrence strategies in Europe by reinforcing and re-strategizing security dynamics amongst European States. The balance of power in Europe has been geopolitically influenced by NATO and Russia in a quest to avoid any kind of security dilemmas from either side. In order to maintain a strategic deterrence balance posture, this complex security navigation scenario therefore act as stabilizing factor in the region as well as preventing any future conflict on the Europe continent resulting from security imbalances. NATO eastward enlargement has maintained a significant strategic balance of power in the …

Political Turbulence And Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis Of Political Stability's Effects On Aviation Accidents, Léa Faure, Lilliam Maria Cáceres Malachowski

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency. Political instability can indeed have profound effects on reducing overall public safety in a variety of domains through its influence on public policies. Reduced regulations and governance efforts can appear in contentious contexts for less-prioritized fields. This could influence the reemergence of technical aviation risk factors like crew training and performance, maintenance issues, infrastructure problems, human errors, etc. This would highlight a correlation between such political instability and weaker aviation safety regulations, investments …

Equal For Whom?: An Analysis Of Multicultural Policies In Norway And The Us Through The Lens Of Immigrant Unemployment, Jodie Boisvert

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Norway and the United States boast diverse and equal societies. Both have attempted to implement multicultural policies to facilitate immigrants' integration into the host society. Engaging with the theories of racism, xenophobia, and multiculturalism, this paper analyzes the immigrant unemployment outcomes from Norway and the United States from 2015-2020 to identify patterns and anticipate causal relationships from these patterns. Standardized data from both countries show that immigrants from Global South countries have far worse employment outcomes than immigrants from Global North countries. The xenophobic and racist histories of both countries could explain this. This paper analyzes the multicultural policies of …

The Texas Electorate's Views Of Health Care As A Human Right, Community Health Centers, And Certain Matters Of The Health Care Safety Net, Scott Elphingstone

Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations

In a country in which the government does not recognize a right to health care,social safety nets are the last hope for persons without insurance or other means to pay for needed care. In United States, community health centers, hospital emergency rooms, and private charities comprise that safety net. Community health centers offer a practicable alternative for politicians and citizens who want to help improve the lives of persons who struggle to access health care. This dissertation reviews the political history of community health centers from their founding as part of the War on Poverty in the 1960s through Democratic …

The Impact Of Student Engagement Activities On Future Climate Change Adaptation: The Case Of Student Simulation Models, Bassel Mostafa Elkalaf

Future Journal of Social Science

This paper explores the critical role of student engagement in addressing the growing challenges of climate change, with a focus on the Model United Nations (MUN) as a case study. As climate-related security threats increase globally, educational platforms that prepare youth for effective leadership in climate politics are more essential than ever. MUN, a widely practiced student activity simulating global policy-making, provides a valuable opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of the interconnectedness between climate change, peace, and security. By participating in MUN simulations, students engage in debates, develop innovative solutions, and practice diplomatic skills, all while exploring the …

How Does Fracking-Related Information Influence Fracking Risk Perceptions? Examining The Roles Of Ideology And Information On Fracking Risk Perceptions, James Ivey

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in the United States has created an economic boom that has helped fuel an ongoing policy conflict between environmental sustainability and human health versus energy independence, expansion of national security, and future economic prosperity. With little federal regulation regarding fracking, policy decisions associated with fracking have fallen to state and local jurisdictions, making the attitudes of officials and lawmakers at the local level the center of many debates regarding fracking and related policies. This paper examines how ideology and information regarding fracking interact to shape risk perceptions associated with fracking. Specifically, this paper uses a survey experiment …

(Un)Worlding With Karipuna’S Shadowy Alliances: The Mirangã And The Isolados, Hanmin Kin

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This ethnographically inspired article investigates the ways in which the Karipuna Indigenous people in Rondônia defend their land in the Western Brazilian Amazon against forces of deforestation and dispossession. I focus on the Karipuna’s plurivalent and collective forest spirits called the mirangã, through life experience accounts of two survivors from the “pre-contact” era who embody the Karipuna-mirangã connection. Through an analysis of the onto-epistemological entanglements in which the mirangã and my interlocutors are situated, I articulate another front of the Karipuna’s multi-faceted resistance: the struggle of worlding vis-à-vis the non-indigenous world. This process also reveals the association (from …

Bottom-Up Global Change: Stealth Action In A Decentralized World, Art Blaser, Trinity Huynh

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

The climate justice and disability rights movements reflect a paradigm shift from a top-down approach to policy-making to one that emphasizes local efforts by non-state actors.