Public Policy Commons^™

Cultivating Care And Resilience: The Contributions And Challenges Of Women Farmers In Hawaii’S Agricultural Landscape, Olivia Manley

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation examines the multifaceted experiences of women farmers in Hawaii, focusing on their motivations, community contributions, and engagement with agricultural programs. Using a semi-grounded theory approach and drawing on feminist political ecology and care work lenses, this study centers on the lived realities of women farming in Maui County. Through in-depth interviews, it explores how these farmers navigate challenges, build resilient food systems, and uphold cultural and environmental stewardship. Findings reveal that women farm not solely for economic gain but as an expression of care for ʻāina (land), family, and community. Their work makes a significant contribution to …

The Role Of Multiple Stakeholders In Pesticide Safety Policy Compliance: A Mixed-Methods Case Study Comparison In Idaho, Oregon, And Washington, Carolyn B. Griswold

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Farming communities across the United States (U.S.) face significant challenges with occupational safety and health (OSH) policy noncompliance, resulting in injury, sickness, and even death. Various stakeholders, including federal and state governments, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, and farm employees, play a role in enforcing and promoting OSH policy compliance. This dissertation investigates whether compliance with pesticide safety policies exists, identifies factors influencing compliance or noncompliance, and explores why farm management and Latinx farmworkers located in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, choose to adhere to—or disregard—public rules and private recommendations about pesticide safety. The findings reveal varying levels of pesticide safety compliance …

Regenerative Recreation: An Examination Of Recreational Trail Users' Environmental Attitudes And Willingness To Help Restore Ecological Systems, Ryan Peck

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Recreation on public lands has never been higher. Agency budgets dedicated to the ecological health of recreation areas have not kept pace with recreation growth. Recreation managers have been calling for a paradigm shift in recreation management. Using a social-ecological systems (SES) approach, I ask, can non-consumptive recreationists (i.e., hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and equestrians) improve ecological health asynchronously while taking part in their recreation endeavors? I call these asynchronous ecologically beneficial actions regenerative recreation.

This project examines non-consumptive recreation users' environmental attitudes as initially suggested by Dunlap and Heffernan (1975), and their willingness to take part in ecologically regenerative …

An Exploration Of Refugee Policy Using Social Construction Theory & The Narrative Policy Framework, Daniel S. Amoruso

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Social Construction Theory and Narrative Policy Framework are cohesive products to assess policymaking by examining social construction variables and the formation of narratives. Although I use each independently and together, using them in conjunction helps to ascertain the difference between what someone does and says. Often, there is a substantive disconnect between the two. As with many policy arenas, interest in refugee policy has ebbed and flowed over the past ten years as the United States fluctuates from Democrat to Republican and back to Democrat administrations. Various administrations, media outlets, and separate communities often portray refugees differently; some favorably toward …

Redefining Missing In The Third Space Of Sovereignty: Collaborative Governance On Idaho's Missing And Murdered Indigenous Persons Policy, Melanie Fillmore

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This three-article dissertation addresses how Indigenous and non-Indigenous state and non-state policy actors collaborating on Idaho missing and murdered Indigenous persons (MMIP) policy shift the Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance (IFCG) policy context to the ‘third space of sovereignty’ (Bruyneel, 2007). In a space of competing narratives of authority across time, and space, paper one addresses how Indigenous and non-Indigenous policy actors are shaped by the “drivers” of collaboration. The second paper addresses three key configurations of collaborative governance regimes. The third paper reassesses the scope of Idaho MMIP through a comparison of MMIP cases in 2021 and 2023 as …

Oregon Community College Trustee Survey: A Look At The Role Of Ambition And Recruitment In Community College Board Members’ Decision To Run For Elected Office, Abby Lee

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on candidate emergence has typically focused on high-profile national and state offices. Absent from this topic is a focused interest in community college trustees and the factors contributing to their taking a trustee position, including their recruitment to a board (Mellow & Heelan, 2008). Through the lens of candidate ambition theory and political recruitment theory, this study investigated the demographics, characteristics, and perceptions of elected Oregon community college trustees concerning their recruitment and ambitions for service as board members. My research addressed the following three questions:

1. What role, if any, does recruitment play in the decision to serve …

The Opioid Epidemic In Virginia: Comparing Case Studies Of County-Level Implementation Of Opioid Response Plans, Sydney Elyse Fox

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This project entails a mixed method review of the implementation of opioid policies in the 133 cities and counties of the Commonwealth of Virginia using van Meter and van Horn’s (1975) Model Theoretical Framework as a guide. This study focuses upon understanding how the characteristics of successful implementation intersect with the components of opioid policy, controlling for education, poverty, and health insurance coverage, and how that interaction may lead to reduced overdose deaths. According to van Meter and van Horn, political agreement is necessary to create a policy with an administrative mechanism to implement. This administrative mechanism, along with resources, …

Word Choice, Deep Core Beliefs, And Unlikely Alliances: Increasing The Distance Traveled By The Narrative Policy Framework, Dalten Warren Fox

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation expands the use and capabilities of the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) by utilizing the framework across three projects that address prevailing knowledge gaps. Since 2010, the NPF literature has produced significant evidence for the importance of understanding the roles of narrative language in public policymaking. Moreover, the NPF’s creators have consistently called upon other policy narrative scholars to challenge, refine, and expand the framework. To contribute to this endeavor, this collection of studies examines language components previously unconsidered by the NPF, leverages the framework in untested belief areas, and examines atypical policy subsystem dynamics using the framework. The …

“Bona Fide And Sincerely-Held”: How Deep Core Beliefs Inform And Influence Policy Engagement At The Institutional Level, Grant Miller

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Developing, fine-tuning, and implementing policy in a pluralistic society includes several potential pitfalls as policy actors engage and represent divergent interests. While much work has been done to explore the possible benefits to the policy process that could come from understanding the intrinsic motivations of individual policy actors, this study is an effort to account for the impact of the core beliefs of institutions as a whole when they engage in the policy process. Drawing from the concepts of the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) regarding deep core beliefs, this study applies Moral Foundations Theory to process and analyze the language …

Exploring Creative Economy Policy Change In United States Cities: An Interconnected Theoretical Approach Framing An Emerging Field And Practice, Matilda Rose Bubb

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The creative economy is a relatively new policy arena focusing on the consumption and production of culture and cultural products, urban development and placemaking, intellectual property protection, entrepreneurship and innovation, tourism, sustainability, and social impact. Despite its documented growth in U.S. cities in the past twenty years, we know very little about how these policy innovations spread, or about who advocates for them. To contribute to public policy research and the creative economy sector, I ask the following overarching question: How are emerging creative economy policy innovations spread, adopted and implemented in cities identified as highly creative in the United …

Perspectives On Data For Good: The Emergence Of Embodied Data Discourses, Kimberly M. Gardner

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In policy sciences, data have traditionally been a tool used by scientists and technocrats to guide state policy. Boundaries around what counts as data generally fall along traditional understandings that data are neutral, objective, and abstracted from individual bodies and experiences. Unfortunately, this understanding of data has a history of perpetuating harmful social hierarchies and, especially in the era of “big data”, mirroring our racial and gendered prejudices (Kitchin, 2014). More recently, however, data have been claimed as a tool by a different kind of actor operating in a unique environment. These new actors, such as some police officers and …

Unheard Victims Of Covid-19: The Impact Of Mask Use On Communication For D/Deaf And Hard Of Hearing People, Kym Couch

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Masks are effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19, but they also impact communication for d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people. This research is a mixed methods approach to analyzing the impact that the widespread use of masks in response to COVID-19 has had on DHH people. Building on the allowance for nuance and paradox presented by Deborah Stone in her book Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making (2012) and holding to the Social Model of Disability, this research involves the qualitative and quantitative analysis of a survey of one-hundred and ninety-eight (198) DHH people, interviews with …

A Different Kind Of Shot: The Covid-19 Vaccination Behavior Of College Students, Alexandra Maria Mccann

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

COVID-19 and its mitigation through social distancing, masking, and preventative vaccination have impacted societies worldwide, leading to controversy regarding public health policy. This dissertation investigates the determinants of the vaccination behavior of 18-24-year-old college students in four-year public institutions in the United States, specifically concerning coronavirus. Of interest are reasons “why” or “why not” students would opt for or against the COVID-19 shot. Findings could aid in messaging public policy targeted toward a desired audience. Concepts related to policy, public health, beliefs, and their effects on the willingness to receive the coronavirus shot are explored. Prospect Theory – decision-making under …

Do Casinos Create Economic Development?: A 15-Year National Analysis Of Local Retail Sales And Employment Growth, Jonathan Lawrence Krutz

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Casino gambling has exploded across the United States over the past 30 years. Both the academic literature and gambling proponents agree that promises of economic development have driven casino policy decisions. While such claims are tempting to policy makers, the academic literature has been largely skeptical of both the methodologies and conclusions of the casino-sponsored research behind them. For such claims to be true, retail sales and employment must grow faster in local economies with casinos than in similar locations without them. Economic theory and academic research suggest that casinos do not attract new money to an area but instead …

Weaponizing The Epa: Presidential Control And Wicked Problems, Craig A. Jones

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In its broadest sense, presidential control encompasses all the actions, in both word and deed, whereby presidents “go it alone” to adopt policies in the absence of congressional will to do so, and sometimes directly contrary to it. This dissertation studies how President Obama used rhetorical and administrative tools of presidential control to address the “wicked problem” of climate change. The “administrative presidency” and the “rhetorical presidency” are familiar political science terms, but in the case of climate change policy, they appear to be moving policymaking in a new and perhaps profound direction, which this study refers to as “post-deliberative …

Pay For Success Financing: Diffusion Dynamics In The U.S., Vanessa R. Fry

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Across the United States (U.S.), communities struggle with numerous social and environmental issues while the funding to provide programmatic services to address these issues continues to diminish. As such, actors both inside and outside of government are seeking new policy solutions that both effectively and efficiently address these issues. Significant hurdles to embarking on a new policy approach exist, however, including a lack of up-front funding and a reluctance to take on the risk inherent in implementing new programs. A recent innovation in the policy domain, Pay for Success (PFS) financing, has been specifically designed to overcome these hurdles. Policy …

Public Administrator Choice Idaho School District Finance Policy Observed, Cameron Marcus Arial

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Physical facilities are essential for Idaho public school districts to fulfill their constitutional mandate “to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.¹ Because these physical facilities cost millions of dollars to construct, a common and prudent means of financing them is to borrow through the municipal bond market. Accessing the bond market to obtain these needed funds is an infrequent and complex process for most Idaho school districts and the administrators who are charged with carrying out these financings. For this purpose, school administrators look to the guidance of financial professionals to …

Closed Primary, Exposed Preferences: Idaho's Primary System And The Bureaucratic Dilemma, Matthew Ryan May

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The ability to elect representatives is one of the most fundamental rights citizens of the United States of America possess, but the expression of that right looks very different from state to state. A state’s primary system determines not only who participates in an election, but under what circumstances. When a state shifts from one primary system to another, it produces a period of uncertainty, as the electorate must acclimate to new rules and their attendant consequences. Among those who must adjust to the new rules are public state employees—the bureaucracy. When a shift necessitates and introduces a partisan …

The Role Of The State In Idaho Land Use Planning, Stephanie L. Witt, Carole Nemnich

Research and Reports

Prior to the recession of 2009-10, Idaho was the sixth fastest growing state by population in the country. Even as the economic downturn reduces the pressures of growth, Idaho's diverse cities and counties continue strive for thoughtful planning that will reflect their community values and needs. This White Paper will examine the role of the state in local land use planning by (1) comparing Idaho's structure to those of states with a more pronounced role in land use planning and (2) discussing the attitudes of Idaho city officials, planners and members of the real estate and development communities about the …

Providing Shelter For The Homeless: Faith-Based Organizations As Instruments Of The Public Good, Elizabeth D. Fredericksen, Stephanie L. Witt

Research and Reports

Networked public service delivery requires attention to accountability and implementation in the public interest. Using the case of transitional housing in a western US community, we review the challenges of goal incongruence between network members and the resulting management problems. In addition, this case illustrates the role that local governments may play in promoting the primacy of one network member over others through collaborations, contract arrangements and nonmonetary resources and the resulting political and judicial difficulties. The complexity of networked service delivery is compounded when the individual missions of network members supersede public policy goals. In many communities, FBOs, as …

The United Way Of Treasure Valley 2011 Community Assessment, Public Policy Center, Boise State University

Research and Reports

In February of 2011, the United Way of Treasure Valley (UWTV), in partnership with Saint Alphonsus Health System and St. Luke’s Health System, contracted with Boise State University to conduct a community assessment in the Treasure Valley (primarily Ada and Canyon Counties), which is home to approximately 40% of the state’s population. A community assessment is a process of gathering, analyzing, and reporting information about the needs of the community and the capacities or strengths that are also currently available to meet those needs.¹ The report that follows details the findings of the Treasure Valley community assessment.

The community …

Passion, Protest, Or Just Plain Incivility?: Responding To Bad Behaviors In Public Meetings, Suzanne Mccorkle

Research and Reports

Bad behavior is not new, but the prevalence of incivility seems a rising tide in the public arena. Passionate outbursts at a public input meeting and planned protest to disrupt meetings are captured with increasing frequency on today’s omnipresent electronic media. The negative invective allowed/encouraged during political campaigns seems to carry over to public input meetings and other places intended for the measured, deliberative processes of governance. In the public forum, sometimes it is easy to discern the planned protest from the passionate outburst; sometimes it is not. When a theater group pretending to be audience members broke into song …

Immigration And The Public Policy Survey, Greg Hill, Andy Bourne

Research and Reports

Evidence suggests that public opinion has a significant and measurable impact on legislative, executive, and citizen interaction. The state of Idaho is no exception. In this white paper, we examine a sample of the opinions of Idahoans, as expressed in the Public Policy Survey, on the subject of immigration.

In the 18th and 19th Annual Idaho Public Policy Surveys, the survey sample was asked to respond to a number of questions concerning immigration in Idaho. Questions on the survey ranged from economic impacts to the quality of education to indigent medical care. Of the many benefits that the data offers, …

Green Building In The Pacific Northwest: Next Steps For An Emerging Trend, Susan G. Mason, Anthony Marker, Rebecca Mirsky

Research and Reports

This report provides an understanding of why green building is important to our communities, a brief look at the emergence of green building standards, research evidence on the perceived pros and cons of green building, and original research on green building in the Pacific Northwest. The original research is an analysis of perspectives voiced in conversations, focus groups and surveys with both members of the construction industry and local government on the barriers and incentives to green building in their local communities. As nearly 500 construction industry members and just over 300 local governments participated in the research, this report …

Green Building In The Pacific Northwest: Next Steps For An Emerging Trend, Office Of Sustainability, Boise State University, Public Policy Center, Boise State University, Susan Mason, Anthony Marker, Rebecca Mirsky

Research and Reports

This report provides an understanding of why green building is important to our communities, a brief look at the emergence of green building standards, research evidence on the perceived pros and cons of green building, and original research on green building in the Pacific Northwest. The original research is an analysis of perspectives voiced in conversations, focus groups and surveys with both members of the construction industry and local government on the barriers and incentives to green building in their local communities. As nearly 500 construction industry members and just over 300 local governments participated in the research, this report …

That Could Be Me: The New Voices Of Poverty In Idaho, Stephanie Witt, Lisa Wennstrom, Carole Nemnich

Research and Reports

In fall of 2009, Boise State University Radio aired a series of stories highlighting the impacts of the changing economy on ordinary Idahoans. The stories were part of a larger project funded in part by the National Center for Media Engagement. The project culminated in a community roundtable held in September of 2009 at which advocates and policy makers discussed the stories, the larger context of poverty here in Idaho, and made policy recommendations. The Public Policy Center at Boise State University was contracted by Boise State Radio to prepare this short white paper. The paper is divided into three …

Nineteen Years Of Public Opinion: The Boise State University Annual Public Policy Survey, Gregory Hill, Andy Bourne, Seth Grigg, Stephanie L. Witt

Research and Reports

Evidence suggests that public opinion has a significant and measurable impact on legislative, executive, and citizen interaction. The state of Idaho is no exception. In this white paper, we examine a sample of the opinions of Idahoans, as expressed in the Public Policy Survey, over the past nineteen years.

A Study Of Idaho Citizen’S Attitudes About Early Childhood Care & Education Issues, Social Science Research Center, Boise State University

Research and Reports

Annually, the SSRC conducts a large-scale survey of Idahoans to identify public policy concerns. The study is provided to public officials and interested citizens to facilitate policy discussion and education. This study was undertaken in conjunction with the annual policy survey. The findings in this report reflect eleven questions sponsored by Mountain State’s Group, supported by a grant from the Anne Casey Foundation.

Public Perceptions About Early Childhood Issues, Public Policy Center, Boise State University

Research and Reports

A survey of the Idaho public reveals strong support for funding and programs aimed at enhanced early childhood education and childcare options, particularly for working parents and low-income households.

Treasure Valley State Of The Region: Progress Report 2008, Public Policy Center, Boise State University, Gregory C. Hill

Research and Reports

The original Treasure Valley State of the Region Report (2006) describes the Boise- Nampa MSA using 49 indicators on social, economic, fiscal and environmental aspects of the region. Comparisons using the indicators are also made with peer regions in the Western United States. The rapid increase in growth in the Treasure Valley warrants a comprehensive look at the region. The Public Policy Center in the College of Social Science and Public Affairs at Boise State University initiated the production of this report to meet this need.

This report was assembled by faculty and graduate students in an effort to produce …