Public Policy Commons^™

Tfr 17.1 Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Disrupting Foundation Culture: Lessons In Learning To Share Power And Decision-Making, Sonia Caus Gleason, Tina Eshaghpour

The Foundation Review

There is much discussion of shifting organizational culture in philanthropies to share power and decision-making. However, examples of foundation learning endeavors to disrupt culture in service of systems change, racial equity, and responsiveness are less common.

Our article provides a window into the demanding work at The California Wellness Foundation and how internal collaboration and learning have led to progress in racial equity and power-sharing with communities. We focus on the introduction of Learning Labs, an action research model that framed and scaffolded the investigation of philanthropic terms and practices. This catalyzed collaborative decision-making within cross-functional teams while senior leaders …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Sexual And Gender Minority Individuals In Our Community: Policy Recommendations To Address Discrimination-Related Stresses, Emylia N. Terry

Lincy Institute Events

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals face a wide range of mental and physical health challenges, which contribute to higher rates of suicide. SGM individuals encounter distress, discrimination, and in some cases, harmful anti-LGBTQIA+ laws and policies that contribute to additional mental and physical health stress. A web-based survey of 1,034 SGM participants in the United States measured the types and frequency of discrimination occurrences and related distress. The survey considers the variety of interactions between individuals and their relationships, while also measuring the community and societal factors that affect health outcomes for SGM individuals. This research evaluates many variables …

Projecting The Roles Of The Indonesian State Revenue Authority Toward Tax Administration's Performance, Nidya Hapsari, Adhy Kusuma Putra

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

This study analyzes the impact of the Indonesian State Revenue Authority (SRA) on tax ratio and/or tax administration performance. The upcoming establishment of SRA, which is projected to take the semi-autonomous form under the direct command of the President, is part of tax reform in Indonesia. Using interpretive analysis and comparative research methods, the study finds that the idea of merging the Directorate General of Taxes, Directorate General of Customs and Excise, and Directorate of Non-Tax State Revenue into the SRA may contribute positively to increased state revenue and tax administration performance in Indonesia, which fiscal system is characterized by …

Extremely Low-Income Renter Households In The Mountain West, 2023, Anthony Arroyo, Yiselle Olivas Ruiz, Mia Tschan, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet examines data from the 2025 National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) report, “The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Rental Homes,” which reported annual rental housing shortages in the United States. This fact sheet focuses on the number of extremely low-income renter households, affordable and available rental homes, and associated cost burdens in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Prison Privatization And Its Impacts On Inmate Quality Of Life: An Analysis Through Logan's Eight Dimensions Model, Hafsa Ahmed

Master in Public Administration Theses

This capstone paper delves deeply into the ramifications of prison privatization on inmates' quality of life in contracted immigration detention facilities. With the increasing inclination towards privatizing correctional institutions, especially immigration detention centers, a rigorous evaluation is indispensable to ascertain the ramifications of such privatizations on the welfare of incarcerated individuals. In this exploration, Logan's quality of confinement model is meticulously applied to selected immigration detention centers to scrutinize the living conditions and reveal profound insights into the quality of life experienced by inmates. This model allows a structured assessment of various dimensions such as safety, order, care, activity, management, …

Beyond The Suburban Ideal: Addressing Southern California’S Strained Affordable Housing Market Through Density Bonus Programs, Alissa Larue

School of Public Policy Capstones

This study examines how expanding Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) could serve as an effective policy solution to address the housing affordability crisis. In San Diego, a Bonus Program has been implemented to incentivize the construction of affordable ADUs by relaxing burdensome regulations. A Differences-in-Differences approach using two-way fixed effects is employed to evaluate the program's effectiveness in promoting ADU development, using city-level data from San Diego and Los Angeles counties. ADU permit applications serve as a key indicator of policy impact. The findings strongly suggest that the Bonus Program influenced increasing ADU permit applications in San Diego. Because the model …

Do Political Party Voter Contact & Gotv Efforts Increase Voter Turnout?, Cody Gunsalus

Political Science Theses and Capstones

While the disconnect between potential voters and those who represent them has grown, parties have spent billions of dollars and millions of hours on voter contact. My question is how effective is pre-election voter contact in increasing voter turnout? What party is most effective at voter turnout? Does the impact of voter contact differ based on education? Is it more effective depending upon age or gender? And how has it changed over time? To address these questions, I analyze National Election Studies (NES) data. The NES has surveyed the national electorate in every national election since 1948. Preliminary analysis has …

Deportation And Immigration Enforcement In The United States: Analysis Of Regional And Country Variations, Exmond Ofori Sarpiah

Political Science Theses and Capstones

This study examines the motivations behind President Trump’s mass deportation policies due to the inflow of undocumented migrants from different regions in America. The study employs data visualization techniques, such as scatter plot and bar charts, to analyze regional and country variation trends in migrant removals and undocumented populations across global regions.

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 …

Restoring School Librarians: Challenges And Strategies, Debrah E. Kachel

Learning Hub

The article examines efforts to restore school librarian positions across eleven urban U.S. school districts, despite significant financial and administrative obstacles. It documents strategies used by district library leaders to advocate for staffing, funding, and policy changes, emphasizing equity in access to certified school librarians. Through structured interviews and analysis, the report highlights key barriers, advocacy methods, and funding mechanisms that have influenced school library staffing. The study's findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on educational equity and policy reform in K-12 library services.

Increasing Housing Stability Through State-Funded Community Mediation, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Karina Zeferino

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

The Massachusetts Housing Mediation Program (HMP), administered by the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston), remains a critical resource for addressing housing instability and homelessness across the Commonwealth. By offering free mediation services to tenants and landlords/property managers at every stage of a housing dispute, the program plays a pivotal role in fostering housing stability.

Established in FY2021 as part of the Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI) to mitigate housing crises during the COVID-19 pandemic and coordinated through the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), the HMP has continued …

Assessing Egypt’S Readiness To Introduce Program And Performance-Based Budgeting, Eman Negm

Theses and Dissertations

Program and performance-based budgeting is one of the recent and most controversial developments in the Egyptian budgetary system. As a results-based budgeting methodology, it can potentially support the government's endeavors to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditures and improve the overall levels of transparency and accountability. As per the new Unified Finance Law, Egypt is preparing for the full implementation of the program and performance budgeting reform to start in FY 2027-2028. The main objective of this study is to assess the readiness of Egypt to introduce program and performance-based budgeting based on six main assessment pillars which …

Six Years Of Proposed Ai Legislation Across The Us States: What’S On Policymakers’ Minds?, Luisa Nazareno Phd, Nakeina E. Douglas-Glenn Phd, Research Institute For Social Equity Rise

Research Institute for Social Equity

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies expand rapidly, public debate has focused on their societal impacts and the need for regulatory oversight. This report offers the first overview of the “what, where, and when” of AI-related legislation introduced in U.S. state legislatures between 2019 and 2024, analyzing key policy trends, priorities, and equity considerations. Although relatively few bills have been enacted, legislative activity has accelerated, reflecting growing political attention to the promises and risks of AI. Most approved bills focus on regulating public or private sector uses of AI, establishing commissions or study groups, and updating education and workforce development programs. …

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 …

The Causes And Impact Of Evictions In Southern Nevada, Mohit Pande

Student Research

As the Southern Nevada region continues to quickly grow, evictions have become a structural feature of the region’s rental market. The region has one of the highest eviction filing rates in the country and this trend has continued to increase in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper examines the availability of market-rate affordable housing and the expansion of subsidized affordable housing to understand how the local housing conditions contribute to the number of evictions in Southern Nevada. Additionally, the paper studies local legal processes, such as the summary eviction system and habitability procedures, to understand the relationship between …

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 …

Improving Understanding And Connections For Preparedness, Mitigation, Response, And Recovery For Tornado And Straight-Line Wind Events In Virginia: Summary Of The Inaugural Virginia Tornado And Straight-Line Wind Summit, Wie Yusuf, Monica Arul, Joshua Behr, Kaleen Lawsure, An Huy Pham, Henry Attivor

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Background

The Virginia Tornado and Straight-Line Wind Summit, the first of its kind in the Commonwealth, was held on October 15, 2025 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. The Summit had several goals, including:

• Understanding Virginia’s wind risk and learning the science behind it.
• Hearing lessons learned from emergency managers who have experienced extreme wind events.
• Learning about practical steps to prepare, mitigate, and respond to severe wind events.
• Learning best practices for timely and actionable communication with the public before and after events.
• Strengthening interagency coordination and connecting with others to share resources, align priorities, and coordinate resilience planning. …

Assessing Local Public Officials' Roles, Challenges, And Opportunities Encountered When Integrating Newcomers: A Case Study To Evaluate The Cities Of Rochester And Worthington., John Dassou

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Immigrants’ integration plays an important part in policy concerns and goals in many local governments since it is a major issue for local officials to integrate immigrants and incorporate them into the host community successfully. Concurrently, it is important to know the roles of local public officials, host communities, and immigrants in the process. The purpose of this study is to assess the challenges that local officials face, and how they handle these encounters effectively and efficiently. Greater collaboration between all stakeholders, social cohesion, and collective efforts implies the idea that immigrants’ integration depends on many players and factors. It …

Gods Guns: Why Firearms And Firearm Culture Remain Sacred To Rural Americans, Thomas Westrick

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

With ample evidence demonstrating a link between low levels of gun regulation and high levels of firearm fatalities, it seems intuitive that Americans would want to increase the level of firearm regulation to bring down the level of violence. However, the target population, white males living in rural areas of the State of Indiana and practicing the Christian Evangelical Protestant tradition, display high levels of resistance to new firearm regulation. This study sought to explore that resistance through the lens of the rural gun culture with an interpretivist qualitative design using reflexive thematic analysis to answer the research question: How …

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 …

Impacting Community Well-Being Through Effective Engagement Using The Seed Method, Carlin Rafie, Emily B. Zimmerman, Angelina Hargrove, Theodora Biney Amissah, Samantha Lee

Journal of Extension

Cooperative Extension can make a significant impact on health in the United States through effective community engagement that focuses on the complex socio-ecological factors that impact health. The Stakeholder Engagement in Question Development Method (SEED Method) employs community based participatory research principles to engage communities in research, problem-solving, and action planning. Projects employing the SEED Method engage community members from diverse backgrounds, create community capacity, result in tangible outcomes, and foment inter-organizational trust and networking. A SEED Toolkit is available on the Extension Foundation Campus site and provides implementation instructions, tools and timelines, and potential applications within Extension.

Contextualized Transitional Justice Policy Development In Uganda: Differentiating Between Normativity Types In Evidence-Based Problem Analysis, Saghar Shahidi Birjandian

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article discusses the fundamental impact of normativity on producing evidence-based guidance for context-sensitive transitional justice policy. It draws on lessons learned from Uganda’s complex transitional justice context and extensive fieldwork to demonstrate the necessity and the means to differentiate between belief-based normativity and evidence-based normativity in conducting problem analysis as a crucial site that determines the integrity of evidence-based guidance. It also establishes that evidence-based normativity guiding problem analysis must include empirical evidence of societal dynamics and views of affected communities or there is a significantly higher risk of belief-based normativity decontextualizing strategy development. Findings establish significant substantive differences …

Raising The Bar: Improving How To Assess Evidence Quality In Evaluating Systems-Change Efforts, Marina Apgar, Thomas Aston, Mieke Snijder, Tom Zwollo

The Foundation Review

Facing the great scale of societal challenges, philanthropic organizations are increasingly calling for systems change. Evaluating systems change requires innovative approaches that respond to the complexities of such change in ways that support equity and multiracial democracy rather than undermining them.

A key concern in evaluating systems change is how to do so rigorously. Rigor has traditionally been equated with evaluative criteria such as independence and objectivity, and experimental methods and evidence hierarchies which sit uncomfortably with both complexity and equity. Yet when taking an alternative approach, many philanthropic organizations fear that without these standards, there are no standards at …

Forest For The Trees: Collective Accountability And Trust As Groundwork For Systems Change, Shaady Salehi, Pia Infante

The Foundation Review

Since 2020, trust-based philanthropy has gained momentum as a strategy to alleviate inherent power imbalances between funders, nonprofits, and the communities they serve. The cornerstone of the approach is a set of grantmaking practices, such as multiyear unrestricted funding and streamlined paperwork, that support nonprofit self-determination toward achieving impact goals.

At a deeper level, trust-based philanthropy is driven by core values that position funders as collaborators and supporters working alongside nonprofits to advance a more just and equitable society. This requires a radically different stance on accountability from conventional philanthropic norms. Rather than reinforcing a sense of one-way transactional accountability, …

Tfr 16.2 Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

A Philanthropic Theory Of Systems Transformation For Advancing Equity In The Polycrisis, Michael Quinn Patton, Ruth Richardson

The Foundation Review

The term “polycrisis” calls attention to overlapping, mutually reinforcing, and potentially disastrous trends and crises that are interconnected, like climate change, increasing global inequities, widespread disinformation, pandemic dangers, the ravages of war, and pollution of land, air, and water. Vulnerable and marginalized populations are most directly affected by the intensifying problems that are manifested in the polycrisis.

This article, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of The Foundation Review, invites readers to ponder the risks posed by the polycrisis and how philanthropy might look beyond business as usual to respond to those risks. We review the evolution of philanthropic …

What Practices For Shifting Power Are Core To Advancing Racial Equity?, Kantahyanee W. Murray, Ji Won Shon, Ashley Barnes, Natalia Ibanez, Karuna Sridharan Chibber, Janelle Armstrong-Brown, Elvis Fraser

The Foundation Review

Power-shifting approaches are increasingly being recognized as practical solutions funders can employ to amplify the voice and agency of grant partners and communities, especially those historically under-resourced and marginalized.

Informed by a literature review and interviews with funders, grant partners, and thought leaders, this article describes four common practices for shifting power to advance equity: embed a racial equity lens into the process to shift power; demonstrate a genuine commitment to communities; give grant partners the power to define success; and embrace an internal systems change orientation.

This article explores the capabilities, mindsets, policies, skills, and resource considerations needed for …