Public Policy Commons^™

America Without A Minimum Wage: Why The Federal Minimum Wage Should Be Abolished, Zachary Cary

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Minimum wage policy may be the greatest economic policy issue where the common man has a strong opinion. Nearly every person has a view of how minimum wage policy should be enacted, whether it be in raising the federal minimum wage, changing the scope of authority in the federal government, or another policy. However, in discussing any kind of policy, the key details of the policy must be discussed in the framework of both how it would be affected and how it would impact its stakeholders. In this policy analysis, the Iron Triangle of Public Policy – the key executive …

Tourism's Power To Promote Peacebuilding In Post-Conflict Societies - A Northern Ireland Case Study, Margaret Walker

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the capacity of tourism to promote peacebuilding in post-conflict societies, specifically focusing on Northern Ireland. This study assesses the current state of conflict tourism in Northern Ireland by analyzing two tourist sites and considering variables that may impact peacebuilding in the greater Northern Ireland community. It measures the success of the Northern Ireland approach by comparing the effects of tourism in other post-conflict and conflict societies. This study culminates with the presentation of certain strategies that Northern Ireland should implement to positively impact peacebuilding through tourism. Curators must portray history in a balanced, sensitive manner that avoids …

Fourthspace: The Role Of Active Social Inclusion In The Workforce Entry Of Syrian Refugees In Scandinavia, Anisa Abeytia

Master's Theses

The 2015 displacement of Syrian refugees into Scandinavian countries provoked a refugee integration policy adjustment that focused on workforce and higher education entry. It is a policy approach that requires attention on barriers to workforce entry to ensure effective policy implementation. This article provides insight into the larger, often overlooked barriers of Eurocentrism and historical biases on refugee labor integration and provides policy solutions to reduce their impact. Active social inclusion (ASI) and Fourthspace are introduced as a framework to reduce biases to workforce entry and integration time barriers faced by Syrian refugees. ASI can provide mechanisms to increase access …

The Black Progress Index In Mountain West Metropolitan Statistical Areas (Msas), Zachary Billot, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet examines data from the Brookings Institution report, “Black Progress Index: Examining Social Factors That Influence Black Well-Being” authored by Andre Perry and Jonathan Rothwell in September 2022. The Black Progress Index (BPI) score is constructed using data and social factors that impact life expectancy for Black Americans. This fact sheet compares the BPI with the actual life expectancy of Black people in Mountain West metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). This fact sheet also examines each of the 13 variables included in the original report to present the BPI in the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV MSA.

Pursuing Antiracist Public Policy Education: An Example Connecting The Racist History Of Housing Policy To Contemporary Inequity, Craig W. Carpenter, Tyler Augst, Harmony Fierke-Gmazel, Bradley Neumann, Richard Wooten

Journal of Extension

We review the antiracism concept and contextualize it in Extension public policy education and the Extension system itself. Despite public policy education having a long history in Extension on a wide variety of issues, missing from this programming is the pursuit of antiracism. As a programmatic example, we review some historical causes of present-day housing inequities and an associated example approach for pursuing antiracism in housing policy education. Finally, we conclude by noting additional opportunities to pursue antiracism in Extension public policy education. In doing so, we emphasize that public policy education cannot be “nonracist” if it is not antiracist.

Developing The Food Navigator Role At Everyone's Harvest, Chase Rodriguez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Everyone’s Harvest (EH) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that operates farmers’ markets. In order to reduce hunger in Monterey County, Everyone's Harvest offers several food assistance programs for low-income people including the Market Match (MM) incentive program which matches CalFresh money, modern day food stamps, dollar for dollar. The problem is that in Monterey County 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 3 children are food insecure. The purpose of the Food Navigator (FN) at EH is to engage with the local community and connect low-income people with food assistance resources, primarily the MM program. This project was a role development …

Perceptions Of Tourism And Quality Of Life: A Case Study In Savannah, Georgia, Marissa J. Renee

Honors College Theses

The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that Travel and Tourism accounted for 10.3% of the world economy in 2019 and ¼ of all net new jobs over the past five years. Savannah, Georgia has experienced huge growth in the last decade due to tourism, with visitor spending on lodging alone increasing from $466 million in 2009 to $1 billion in 2019. The current study examined differences in perceived impact of tourism on quality of life using established predictors of tourism sentiments. An online community survey was conducted in Chatham County, Georgia (N = 94) using the Tourism Quality of …

Police Funding In The Mountain West, 2020-2022, Lana Kojoian, Miguel Soriano Ralston, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet examines data from Third Way’s report “The Red City Defund Police Problem” which provides information on police funding and other metrics on police forces. The original report offers a review of police funding and operating budgets for the 25 largest Democrat-run cities and 25 largest Republican-run cities in the U.S. This fact sheet includes police force data for 10 Mountain West cities (Aurora, CO; Chandler, AZ; Colorado Springs, CO; Denver, CO; Glendale, AZ; Gilbert, AZ; Las Vegas, NV; Mesa, AZ; North Las Vegas, NV; and Phoenix, AZ).

(Un)Weighted Assumptions: Anti-Fatness & Health, Kieran Chase, Nell Carpenter, Madysen Schreiber

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

This lecture/discussion session aims to expand and add nuance to public health students’, professors’, and practitioners’ understanding of the interplay between body size and health. We will begin by naming and challenging common assumptions about the relationship between bodyweight and health outcomes. We will then argue for the consideration of weight-related stigma as a Fundamental Cause of Disease as defined by Phelan and Link, and for institutionally embedded anti-fat bias at the policy level (e.g., insurance policy, medical equipment) as a cause of population health inequity as defined in Whitehead’s Health Equity Framework. We offer these frameworks in contrast to, …

The Quest To End Human Trafficking: An Educational And Practical Guide For Everyone Who Wants To Help Break The Bonds And Assist Survivors, Dennis W. Mccarty

Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity Faculty Scholarship

People often assume that only legislators and law enforcement personnel can take meaningful steps to fight human trafficking, one of the most lucrative transnational crimes in the world. This inquiry sought to assess the validity of that belief. The study was informed by the author’s experience as a college instructor of human trafficking and the inspiration he drew from the range and quality of his students’ projects.

The methodology included examining the strategies that governmental and non-governmental organizations are using to fight trafficking and assist survivors. It also considered the work of individual activists and service providers such as social …

Physician Workforce In The Mountain West, Hira Ahmed, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

Using data from the Association of American Medical College’s State Physician Workforce Data Report, this fact sheet synthesizes Mountain West data on the numbers of active physicians and active physician demographics in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This fact sheet focuses on active physicians in the Mountain West region by gender, race and ethnicity, as well as the number of students pursuing medical and premedical education.

Increasing Housing Stability Through State-Funded Community Mediation Delivered By The Massachusetts Housing Mediation Program (Hmp) In Fy2022, Madhawa Palihapitiya, David Sulewski, Karina Zeferino, Jarling Ho

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents findings and recommendations from an evaluation of the Massachusetts Housing Mediation Program (HMP) administered by the MA Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston in partnership with 11 Community Mediation Centers (Centers). The program is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and implemented in partnership with the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The program was initially part of the Governor’s Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI), which ended in the latter half of FY2022 and is continuing as an intervention to support housing stability. The evaluation was conducted by MOPC’s research unit comprised …

Of Boys And Men: Why The Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, And What To Do About It, Richard Reeves

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Boys and men are struggling. Profound economic and social changes of recent decades have many losing ground in the classroom, the workplace, and in the family. While the lives of women have changed, the lives of many men have remained the same or even deteriorated. Our attitudes, our institutions, and our laws have failed to keep up. Conservative and progressive politicians, mired in their own ideological warfare, fail to provide thoughtful solutions.

The father of three sons, a journalist, and a Brookings Institution scholar, Richard V. Reeves has spent twenty-five years worrying about boys both at home and work. His …

Measuring Citizens’ Acceptance And Usage Of E-Government Services: Applying The Technology Acceptance Model (Tam) In Egypt, Rana Khamis

Theses and Dissertations

The significance of public services delivery has been realized by all governments worldwide. An overarching tool to enhance government productivity and enabling citizen-centric public services, especially in developed countries, has proven to be the electronic government (e-Government).

While many scholars focused on the supply side of e-government, few researches studied e-government adoption from the citizens’ perspective. To contribute to filling this research gap, this study aimed at measuring the perceptions of citizens towards the adoption of e-government services in Egypt. Using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the main objective of this research was gaining a better understanding of the factors affecting …

Anti-Queer Policy As It Translates To Violence Against The Lgbt Community, Kendall Bush

Honors Theses and Capstones

In recent years, the amount of anti-LGBT policy introduced is rapidly increasing (ACLU, 2023). Contemporary policy focuses mainly on queer youth and gender identity, attacking gender-affirming health care and limiting LGBT discussions in public schools. Although these policies are particularly insidious, they follow a trend of queer persecution in the United States. Within federal policy and across state legislation, the panopticon of anti-LGBT policy ensures that queer bodies are policed and monitored. This paper posits that the increase in anti-queer policy translates to an increase in experiences of external and indirect violence. Based on findings from the UCR and various …

How The “Black Criminal” Stereotype Shapes Black People’S Psychological Experience Of Policing: Evidence Of Stereotype Threat And Remaining Questions, Cynthia J. Najdowski

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Cultural stereotypes that link Black race to crime in the U.S. originated in and are perpetuated by policies that result in the disproportionate criminalization and punishment of Black people. The scientific record is replete with evidence that these stereotypes impact perceivers’ perceptions, information processing, and decision-making in ways that produce more negative criminal legal outcomes for Black people than White people. However, relatively scant attention has been paid to understanding how situations that present a risk of being evaluated through the lens of crime-related stereotypes also directly affect Black people. In this article, I consider one situation in particular: encounters …

The Cultural Diplomacy Of U.S. Peace Corps: Understanding The Role Of Peace Corps Volunteers As Strategic Geopolitical Assets, Corey B. Miles

Theses and Dissertations

Beginning in the Summer of 1961, the United States government has deployed volunteer humanitarians around the world to serve the mission of U.S. Peace Corps and has since contributed to communities in 143 partner countries while enjoying widespread popularity. Its mission of promoting world peace and friendship is pursued through three operational goals: technical training, cultural exportation, and cultural importation. Since 2016, with the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, and continuing through the Covid-19 pandemic, which produced the first global service interruption in agency history, the value of the Peace Corps service model has been fundamentally challenged. As a …

America And Hope In The Time Of Fentanyl And Meth: A Fireside Chat With Sam Quinones, Sam Quinones

Center for Policy Research

For the 34^th Annual Herbert Lourie Memorial Lecture on Health Policy, Sam Quinones sat down with Dr. Shannon Monnat for a fireside chat. He discussed how the drug-trafficking world has changed over the last twenty years, the rise of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the U.S., how drug use in the U.S. reflects American society, and what kind of policies will help with this epidemic.

Underrepresentation Of Black Participants In Drug Court: Reasons Reported For Non-Admission In Six Jurisdictions, Kathryn J. Genthon

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the beneficial impacts of drug court participation, access to these programs may not be equitable across racial groups. The reasons behind racial disparities in access to these programs are not well-documented in the current literature. This study investigates disparities in access to drug court and the possible reasons they occur. Chi-square tests are used to assess for disparities in admissions between Black and White individuals referred to drug court. Additional statistical analyses addressed the association of sex and age with admission to provide a broader picture of the impact of a variety of demographic characteristics on admission to drug …

'Logics Of Redistribution' Under Welfare Reform: The Case Of Welfare For Families With Children, Anthony Huaqui

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article builds upon the “logics of redistribution” approach to welfare state theory, which argues that different theoretical explanations, referred to as “logics”, apply to different programs based on context and constituencies. I argue that individual programs’ can have their logics change over time as well via institutional restructuring in policymaking. To demonstrate this, I use Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), later renamed Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), as a case. This program underwent institutional restructuring in 1996 by way of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). I use yearly state-level data from 1984 …

Puerto Rican Retired Teachers’ Perceptions About Their Financial Sufficiency, Rossana López León

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Puerto Rico, the Teachers’ Retirement System, which has a membership of around 36,000 retired public-school teachers, is currently facing major restructuring and budget cuts, as part of a larger restructuring of all government agencies to meet the economic emergency they were facing. The recent retirement system reforms were focused mainly on cutting benefits, such as medications, Christmas and summer bonuses, and the cost-of-living adjustment. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of retired teachers regarding their financial sufficiency, and to identify their attitudes, beliefs, and opinions/feelings in light of their socioeconomic profile. The research question focused …

Puerto Rican Retired Teachers’ Perceptions About Their Financial Sufficiency, Rossana López León

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Puerto Rico, the Teachers’ Retirement System, which has a membership of around 36,000 retired public-school teachers, is currently facing major restructuring and budget cuts, as part of a larger restructuring of all government agencies to meet the economic emergency they were facing. The recent retirement system reforms were focused mainly on cutting benefits, such as medications, Christmas and summer bonuses, and the cost-of-living adjustment. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of retired teachers regarding their financial sufficiency, and to identify their attitudes, beliefs, and opinions/feelings in light of their socioeconomic profile. The research question focused …

The Political Ramifications Of Judicial Institutions: Establishing A Link Between Dobbs And Gender Disparities In The 2022 Midterms, Udi Sommers, Or Rappel-Kroyzer, Amy Adamczyk, Lindsay Lerner, Anna Weiner

Publications and Research

In the American system of government, courts are designed to operate within the legal sphere, with limited political interference. Is it possible, though, that a behavior that is at the heart of the political process can be influenced directly by a judicial decision? Focusing on voter registration big data for the universe of voters in North Carolina around the time of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the authors assess the roles of gender, political party affiliation, and age in voter registration. North Carolina is the only state whose voter registry has the necessary granularity over time and information needed. …

“Cuando Crezca, Quiero Ser Fotógrafo”: Caminos De La Producción Audiovisual De Kamikia Kisêdjê, Rodrigo Lacerda, Ximena Flores Rojas, Tatiane Maíra Klein

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

Entrevista con Kamikia Kisêdjê.

Movements In C Minor: Vocal Soundscapes In Eastern Amazonia (Araweté), Guilherme Orlandini Heurich

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

This article examines the capture of forest spirits through music in the Anĩ pihi speech-songs of the Araweté, a small Amerindian society in Eastern Amazonia, Brazil. The Anĩ pihi are unique in their combination of spoken and sung forms, in which spirits and divinities are voiced by a ritual specialist. I explore how particular sounds index the presence of different kinds of others (gods and spirits), and how these sounds are, in turn, related to the use of reported speech – in other words, how others talk about other others in sung form. As such, the Anĩ pihi are a …

Camaraderie, Mentorship, And Manhood: Contemporary Indigenous Identities Among The A’Uwẽ (Xavante) Of Central Brazil, James R. Welch

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

Rites of passage and associated social processes and configurations can foster a sense of shared purpose, fraternity, and dedication to community through common experiences of group trials and commitment. A’uwẽ (Xavante) age organization entails the social production of manhood through a privileged form of male camaraderie constructed through age sets and mentorship, rooted in the shared experience of rites of passage and coresidence in the pre-initiate boys’ house. This process is central to how A’uwẽ men understand themselves, their social relations with certain delineated segments of society, and their ethnic identity. It is a basic social configuration contributing to the …

Unwilling Gamblers And Loaded Dice: Considering Recession And Crisis As A Natural Effect Of Financial Capitalism, Darlene N. Moorman

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Under financial capitalism, ordinary people are increasingly becoming 'unwilling gamblers' of a risky and unstable system. This paper explores the social and institutional change behind the neoliberal movement and considers how the politics and policies of neoliberalism have contributed to a certain environment of financial instability. Looking at the changing nature of the economy, the rapid expansion of the financial sector, and the persisting issue of moral hazard underlying risky and speculative behaviors among other items, reveals a financial system in which recessions and crises can be considered a natural, although not inevitable, effect.

Examining The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Violent Crime In The City Of Pittsburgh, Brittany Urban

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to examine patterns of Part I crimes [including Part I Person/Violent: Homicide, Rape, Aggravated Assault, and Robbery, and Part I Property: Burglary, Larceny-Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, and Arson, as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Standards] in The City of Pittsburgh, framing the COVID-19 pandemic as a major stressor that Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory suggests may lead to increased opportunity for crime, due to the perceived unjustness of the associated lockdown orders and potential incentive for criminal coping (Agnew 1992). This descriptive analysis is based primarily upon …

The Future Of Universal Basic Income: The Impact Of Organizational Strategies On Alleviating Poverty And Maximizing Outcomes, Anna Mathews

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Universal basic income is gaining traction, with pilot programs being conducted all over the world. These programs are all organized differently, from their sources of funding to their eligibility criteria. This research draws correlations between organizational strategies of UBI programs and the outcomes their recipients experience. Specifically, it analyzes three contemporary UBI programs within the United States: the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (APFD), and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians per capita payments (EBCI). The research assesses the physical health, mental health, and economic outcomes of the participants in each case study, in order to …

A Quantitative Examination Of The Influence Of Social And Structural Communication Variables On The Social Connectedness Of People Experiencing Homelessness, Shawn Michael Evans

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined the influence of social and structural communication variables on the perceived social connectedness of people experiencing homelessness in the Northwest Arkansas (NWA) and Joplin, Missouri areas. This study employed the ecological perspective of communication infrastructure theory (CIT; Ball-Rokeach et al., 2001) and a communication perspective which envisions communicative interaction as constitutive of social experience. Using survey data from 166 participants, this study examined 11 research questions and hypotheses drawn from extant literature on homelessness, social connectedness, and CIT. ANOVAs, t-tests, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed a complex relationship between individuals and the communicative environment. This study …