Public Policy Commons^™

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Accountability Models In Policy Design: Understanding The Explanatory Power Of The Four Major Accountability Models In Policy Tool Choices, David Seiler Jarvis

Dissertations and Theses

In the study of government accountability, there have long been arguments about which model is superior. These arguments, which are largely made by those in the performance and political accountability camps, state that their particular model is the best, and indeed only legitimate approach to ensuring accountable government. At the same time, there is growing research in policy tools but little in how accountability models and policy tools are linked in policy design.

This study makes use of the context provided by the critical cases of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). …

Interorganizational Performance Comparisons Using Quality Assurance Audit Results, Raymond E. Keeler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 requires government agencies to conduct performance measurements of their contractors for purposes of evaluation and comparison. To be most meaningful, performance comparisons need to consider all relevant characteristics that are of importance to the agency. Yet, bounded rationality theory states that managers of complex programs may have insufficient time and resources to consider all potentially relevant factors. Therefore, metrics used for decision making need to incorporate all relevant factors before the information is provided to decision makers.

Over the last several decades, government agencies have increasingly identified Quality Assurance compliance as …

A Study On Generic Prescription Substitution Policy As A Cost Containment Approach For Michigan’S Medicaid System, Khandaker Nayeemul Islam

Dissertations

Increasing health care costs have made management of Medicaid services to provide low-income families through Medicaid programs critical in the recent times. The number of Medicaid beneficiaries in Michigan has increased over the years mainly due to the downsizing of auto sectors. Currently, states spend almost 16% of their budget for Medicaid, making it the second largest item in the budget for most (Kaiser Foundation, 2010). Prescription drugs are a significant part of Michigan’s Medicaid costs. Higher costs caused a tremendous fiscal burden on Michigan in administering the program and providing prescription drugs for its patients. Michigan has implemented several …

Resource Control Or Terrorism: Competing Perspectives On The Conflict In The Niger Delta Region, Nigeria., Peter Ogoegbunem Opone

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A state of conflict has existed in the Niger Delta for fifty years. The nature of the conflict, whether it is terrorism or civil insurrection, has not been resolved by the respective legislative entities. This qualitative case study was designed to explore the nature of the Niger Delta conflict from the perspective of several members of the Nigerian National Assembly and determine whether terrorism in Nigeria is related to the general conflict. Social conflict theory provided the basis for the exploration. An ancillary question explored whether antiterrorism legislation in 2006 alleviated the Niger Delta conflict. Interview data were collected from …

Culture And Nongovernmental Organizations Performance, Ondo State, Nigeria, Oluwatoyin Akinkuotu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Non-government organizations (NGOs) became strong forces in global affairs at the local, national, and international level, with the emergence of the United Nations Organization (UNO) in 1945. Many of these NGOs have failed to attain their goals, and research efforts have attributed their failure to socioeconomic and political factors. The situation is worse in developing countries, where there has been an alarming proliferation of NGOs since the 1980s. The purpose of this qualitative study was to evaluate the performance of community-based NGOs in Nigeria in relation to the cultural values of the people. The theoretical frameworks for the study were …

Charter School Locations Across The U.S. And Their Influence On Public School District Revenues, Peter A. Jones

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Since Minnesota passed the first charter school law in 1991, charter schools have become one of the most prominent school reforms in the U.S. While charter schools educate a small portion of public school enrollments, their existence has prompted various responses from traditional public school districts. For example, districts may change expenditure patterns or work to increase test scores in an effort to retain enrollments. In this sense, a charter school’s most significant impact on public school students may work indirectly through the traditional public school reactions they invoke.

This dissertation explores education finance implications for charter schools and their …

Family Support Caseloads--Determinants Of Kentucky's Division Of Family Support Personnel Allocation, David Bachert

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This paper is an examination of the determinants of Family Support employee allocation. Specifically, related to Kentucky, the goal of this research is to determine if public assistance caseloads are equitable across nine geographic regions. A review of relevant literature provides a larger context to this topic. Literature primarily suggests three mechanisms by which Family Support resources might be allocated: legal regulations, postcode lottery, and Tiebout migration.

Supported by literature the larger context for this paper leads to the examination of five independent variables: (1) percent of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients \, (2) total population, (3) percent of the …

Making Parts Instead Of Children : Policy Feedback And No Child Left Behind, Jody Maria Schmid

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Most of our hopes and dreams for public education rely on how well teachers teach, and major federal education policies often need teachers to serve as their primary implementers. Yet we know very little about how teachers' responses to federal education policies affect their teaching, their identity and their motivations. Research on "policy feedback" recognizes that policy targets derive important lessons from public policies and political discourse, but there are gaps in terms of how, when and why relationships within organizations, institutions, or communities mediate these effects on policy implementers and citizens. This dissertation uses cultural policy analysis, and in-depth, …

Employee Locus Of Control And Engagement In Nonprofit Organizations, Jacqueline Myers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Transformational leadership and employee engagement have been studied in the private sector, yet research in the nonprofit sector is scarce. Addressing this gap is important to improve nonprofit practices, as nonprofit organizations contribute to a myriad of social issues critical to positive social change. Using Burns's theory of transformational leadership, which places emphasis on motivating and inspiring performance through a shared vision and mission, the purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze the effects of transformational leadership on employee engagement in nonprofit organizations. The study also assessed whether locus of control acted as a mediating variable on employee engagement. …

Utilization Of The Kentucky Aids Drug Assistance Program Versus Kentucky Medicaid Using Medication Possession Ratio: Policy Implications For Public Program, Jenna Parrett

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Uninsured and underinsured people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) are able to utilize federally funded AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) to cover the price of their HIV-related medications. In Kentucky, this program also provides support services through social workers, a dedicated pharmacist, and medications by mail order. With the Affordable Care Act, many patients previously covered by the Kentucky AIDS Drug Assistance Program (KADAP) will be newly eligible for Medicaid and will no longer receive services through KADAP. There is concern that people in this situation will be at a disadvantage without these services and, in …

Sustainability Policy’S Inherent Dilemmas – Exemplified Via Critical Examination Of The Las Vegas Metropolitan Sustainability Campaign, Kathryn A. Zimmerman

All Master's Theses

In response to a dual problem of critical water scarcity and rapid population growth, leaders of metropolitan Las Vegas implemented a region-wide, internationally marketed sustainability campaign. Preliminary studies found that, while sustainability policy attains its rhetorical goals, solutions initiated not only perpetuate but also purposefully expand the original dual problem to justify continuous water resource acquisitions. To examine this sustainability conundrum constructed by leadership—problem-perpetuation rather than problem-resolution—a critical examination in resource management asked two basic questions: what is being sustained and by what means? Via this inquiry, specific processes by which leaders perpetuate problems can be identified; and, so-informed, new …

The Impacts Of In-State Procurement Preference Policies On The Economy Of South Carolina, Sawsan A. Abutabenjeh

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

This research examined the impact of South Carolina's in-state preference policies on the economy of the state. To achieve this purpose, the research sought to answer the question: what are the impacts of implementing the in-state procurement preference policies on the economy of the state of South Carolina? The question was answered by using seven economic indicators: jobs, personal income, real disposable income, output (sales), Gross State Product (GSP), value added and state's population. The data related to the in-state preference policies were collected from the South Carolina Procurement Services Office. The data was then analyzed using the Regional Economic …