Public Policy Commons^™

Lobbying On Behalf Of The Faithful: Three Mainline Protestant Denominations And Their Advocacy Efforts On Capitol Hill During The 110th Congress, Julia Ann Summers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A number of mainline Protestant denominations engage in direct lobbying and grassroots advocacy efforts with Congress on behalf of the poor and other marginalized groups. This study explores the work of three specific denominations the Presbyterian Church [PC(USA)], the United Church of Christ (UCC), and the United Methodist Church (UMC), as religious special interests. Specifically, the study explores how they facilitated their policy agendas on Capitol Hill during the 110th Congress (2007-2008). This question is answered primarily through interviews with and surveys of the professional staff engaged in this work during that session. Results indicate that each denomination works extensively …

Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands, Meagan Batdorf, Larry D. Maloney, Jay F. May, Sheree T. Speakman, Patrick J. Wolf, Albert Cheng

School Choice Demonstration Project

The revenue study is based on Fiscal Year 2010‒11 (FY11) data for each of 30 selected states plus the District of Columbia (D.C.). Traditional school districts and public charter schools were analyzed and aggregated “statewide.” For each state, one to three “focus areas” were selected based on larger concentrations of charter students – most focus areas are large cities, some are metropolitan counties. Traditional school districts and charter schools were analyzed separately in each focus area. The analytic team collected and analyzed all revenues, public and private, flowing to traditional district and public charter schools. FY11 funding includes Federal, State, …

"There Were High Hopes And High Projections:" Examining The Social Construction Of Target Populations In The Policy Design Of The Arkansas Lottery Legislation, Kristopher D. Copeland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lottery policies have been created by many states to generate additional funds to support public initiatives, such as higher education scholarships. In 2009, Arkansas adopted a lottery to generate higher education scholarships. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the Arkansas state lottery policy design process to better understand how the Social construction of higher education students and other citizens became embedded within the policy. The Social construction of target populations theory (Ingram & Schneider, 1993), guided three research questions regarding how policy actors in Arkansas Socially constructed citizens while designing lottery legislation, how these Social constructions …

The Effects Of The Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act On The Process Of The Campaign Finance In The Presidential Nomination Process, Karen Sebold

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act increased the individual donor limit to $2,000 per candidate per election and indexed the limit for inflation every two years. The primary research question guiding this study is how has the increase in the donor limit affected donor behavior. Answering this question should allow a determination to be made about how donors have responded to the increased donor limit. Understanding how donors responded to the doubled limit is important because it provides evidence on the intersection of wealth inequality and political influence. To answer the research question this study considers how the increased donor limit …

Interest Group Scorecards And Legislative Satisfaction: Using Ratings To Explore The Private Bias In Public Policy, Daniel E. Chand

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite their importance to our system, the study of interest groups has produced few concrete findings compared to other actors such as administrative agencies and political parties in the policymaking process. The absence of generalizable findings is partly explained by the unpopularity of the topic, but is primarily due to a deficiency of easily accessible data and lack of agreement over how to operationalize important concepts. In the following dissertation, I employ interest group "scorecards" (ratings of members of Congress) as an approach to examining interest groups in a generalizable manner. Specifically, I use scorecards to test the pluralist assumptions …

Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Farmer Training In Ghanaian Cocoa Farming, Michael Norton

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Undergraduate Honors Theses

While billions of dollars flow into low-income countries each year to help alleviate poverty, assessing the effectiveness of these dollars is a challenging task. The literature is rich in studies that measure the benefits of rural development programs. However, many of these studies lack a temporal dimension because they measure cost and benefits for only capital investments and for only a single, static year, while not accounting for skill enhancement. By only measuring net producer benefits during the life of the development program, the cost-benefit analyses (CBA) may not truly capture the full net benefits of a given program. In …

The Forgotten Half Of Food System Reform: Using Food And Agricultural Law To Foster Healthy Food Production, Emily Broad Leib

Journal of Food Law & Policy

America is facing widespread problems with its food system, including environmental harms due to externalities from industrial farms; the increasing amount of "food _miles" traveled by the products that make up our daily meals; and the growing size and complexity of recent outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. Indeed, the entire system that covers the life cycle of food, through production, processing, distribution, consumption, and food waste management, is in crisis. One of the most disturbing of these well-documented problems with the industrial food system is the increase in rates of obesity and diet-related illnesses. Obesity rates in the U.S. have more …

United States Food Law Update: Shrouded By Election-Year Politics, State Initiatives And Private Lawsuits Fill In The Gaps Created By Congressional And Agency Ossification, A. Bryan Endres, Lisa R. Schlessinger, Rachel Armstrong

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Observers of food law in the 2012 presidential election year witnessed a dramatic slowing of federal initiatives-perhaps arising from a desire by both Congress and the administration to avoid upsetting critical constituent groups during a year seemingly dominated by campaigns and endless talking points. For example, Congress failed to take action on a unique compromise between what some had considered mortal enemies-the Humane Society of the United States and United Egg Producers-that would implement a federal animal welfare standard for laying hens in return for abandoning ballot measures in various states. Similarly, the FDA waited until the early days of …

The U.S. Department Of Agriculture As A Public Health Agency? A "Health In All Policies" Case Study, Lindsay F. Wiley

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The "war on obesity" is now well into its second decade. What began as an effort to encourage medical doctors to screen and treat patients whose weight put them at risk for health problems has transformed into a much broader public health campaign to address the root causes of obesity. A growing number of state, territorial and local health departments are currently exploring new ways to promote healthy eating and physical activity. At the federal level, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has made "nutrition, physical activity and obesity" a top priority.

Education’S Fiscal Cliff, Real Or Perceived?, Larry D. Maloney, Meagan Batdorf, Jay F. May, Michelle Terrell

School Choice Demonstration Project

What would an education fiscal cliff do to public charter school funding, not to mention overall public education funding? And what role, if any, did federal funds play in averting a funding disaster for all public education? This research team currently is looking for answers to these questions. A new research project has been funded to evaluate the revenues provided to traditional public schools and public charter schools during the FY11 school year, and a report on the findings in 30 states and the District of Columbia will be released in spring 2014. Prior to the release of this report, …

Identifying Local Entrepreneurship Development System Policy In Rural Areas And How Local Context Shapes Entrepreneurship Policy Formation, Stacey Wright Mccullough

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As rural communities struggle to maintain a sustainable economic base in today's global economy, many are exploring strategies to encourage entrepreneurial development. The purpose of this study was to better understand how local public policy is being be used to support the creation of entrepreneurship development systems in rural communities and how local context shapes entrepreneurship public policy formation. In phase one of the study, a survey and analysis of documents available on the Internet were used to identify county and municipal policy actions associated with entrepreneurial development in 16 counties in North Carolina. In the second study phase, two …

Mobilizing Alumni Constituents For Legislative Advocacy In Higher Education, Elizabeth Saxman Underwood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adequate funding has become a critical issue for institutions of higher education, affecting outcomes such as accessibility, affordability, and quality of education. The recent economic recession has been detrimental for state funding, resulting in budget cuts for higher education in a majority of states. Overall, state funding has not kept pace with the rising costs of education. Additionally, the issues of state governance and institutional autonomy have also become heightened. Thus, many higher education institutions are initiating advocacy programs with their external constitutions. Because alumni are integral group of an institution's constituent base, and often exhibit the most passion for …

Livestock Production And Wildlife-Based Tourism: Articulating Land-Use And Policy Conflicts In The Okavango Delta Ramsar Site In Botswana, Nelson Kgamanyane Sello

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The management of common pool resources and policy conflicts between livestock and wildlife, two land-use types that take place in the same geo-spatial area has been a subject of debate among scholars for decades. This conflict in policies has engendered in communities which are beneficiaries attitudes that are either negative towards wildlife or favorable depending on the benefits they derive from them. This research therefore set out to understand the conflicts in the management of the Okavango Delta Ramsar Site (ODRS) where the OD is situated. The study used the grounded theory to collect and analyze the data in the …

The Costs And Impacts Of Rising Food Prices Among Low-Income Households, Elaine Waxman

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The pressure of rising food prices on low-income households is often assumed to be primarily an issue for developing economies, where fluctuations in food staple prices can have dramatic consequences for food security and social and political stability. Observers often note that Americans benefit from relatively low food prices and spend far less to feed their families than their counterparts in many other parts of the world. Indeed, the average American household spent 7.6% of their household expenditures on food purchases at home in 2009, while the comparable percentage exceeded 40% of household expenditures in diverse countries such as Mexico, …

Senior Center Participation In Northwest Arkansas: An Examination Of Future Marketing Strategies, Policy Implications, And Program Needs To Attract The Baby-Boomer Generation, Wanda Faye Turner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore the impact of the Baby Boomer Generation on the future services provided by Senior Centers in Northwest Arkansas, specifically in Benton, Madison, and Washington counties. The study was a mixed methods design utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Three research groups were used: Nine Senior Center Directors, which were interviewed; one focus group composed of four Baby Boomers; and a print survey distributed to ninety-two Baby Boomers. The data revealed that changes are needed in the program and services in Senior Centers to attract the Baby Boomer Generation. Changes will need to …

The Comprehensive Longitudinal Evaluation Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Summary Of Final Reports, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

Our research revealed a pattern of school choice results that range from neutral (no significant differences between Choice and MPS) to positive (clear benefit to Choice). Although we have examined virtually every possible way that school choice could systematically affect people, schools, and neighborhoods in Milwaukee, we have found no evidence of any harmful effects of choice.

Special Education And The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Patrick J. Wolf, John F. Witte, David J. Fleming

School Choice Demonstration Project

Special education and parental school choice are two of the most controversial issues in K-12 education in the United States. Those policies converge on an important question in an evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, what proportion of students have education-related disabilities? This debate, in Wisconsin, has provoked a lawsuit against the state’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI), which implements the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). MPCP is the oldest and largest urban private school voucher program in the United States.

School Site Visits: What Can We Learn From Choice Schools In Milwaukee?, Thomas Stewart, Anna M. Jacob, Laura I. Jensen

School Choice Demonstration Project

The School Site Visits study is part of the fifth series of annual reports produced by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP). It describes some of the major challenges experienced and common practices demonstrated by thirteen (13) K-12 schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). During the 2010-11 school year, there were 107 religious and secular schools participating in the MPCP. This report is based on visits to six of the high schools and seven K-8 schools that collectively reflect the wide range of characteristics associated with participating schools. This includes whether schools scored above or below average …

Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Descriptive Report On Participating Schools 2010–11, Michael Q. Mcshane, Brian Kisida, Laura I. Jensen, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

This report is the fifth in a series of annual reports produced by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) that will provide descriptive information about the schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP).

Milwaukee Longitudinal School Choice Evaluation: Annual School Testing Summary Report 2010-11, Anna M. Jacob, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

Effective at the start of the 2010-11 school year, 2009 Wisconsin Act 28 requires private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) to administer the state test, the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations (WKCE) in reading, mathematics and science to all MPCP pupils in the same grades as public school students tested under Title 1 of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Prior to the 2010-11 school year, 2005 Wisconsin Act 125 required private schools participating in the MPCP to administer a nationally normed standardized test of their choosing annually in reading, mathematics, and science to the …

Milwaukee Independent Charter Schools Study: Final Report On Four-Year Achievement Gains, John F. Witte, Patrick J. Wolf, Deven Carlson, Alicia Dean

School Choice Demonstration Project

The general purpose of this five-year evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of Milwaukee’s independent charter schools in promoting student achievement growth. Independent charter schools are authorized by nonschool-district entities and are considered “independent” because they are not a part of the Milwaukee Public School District (MPS). Throughout the course of this report we will estimate four-year achievement gains for independent charter school students who were in grades 3-8 during the 2006-07 school year using reading and math achievement data from the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination (WKCE). Specifically, the report presents the results of an analysis comparing achievement gains …

Student Attainment And The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Final Follow-Up Analysis, Joshua M. Cowen, David J. Fleming, John F. Witte, Patrick J. Wolf, Brian Kisida

School Choice Demonstration Project

In this report we continue our examination of high school graduation and post-secondary enrollment in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). We consider students enrolled in the MPCP in either 8th or 9th grade in 2006, and a comparison sample of students enrolled in the Milwaukee Public Schools.

Mpcp Longitudinal Educational Growth Study Fifth Year Report, John F. Witte, Deven Carlson, Joshua M. Cowen, Patrick J. Wolf, David J. Fleming

School Choice Demonstration Project

This is the final report in a five-year evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). This report features analyses of student achievement growth four years after we carefully assembled longitudinal study panels of MPCP and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) students in 2006-07. The MPCP, which began in 1990, provides government-funded vouchers for low-income children to attend private schools in the City of Milwaukee. The maximum voucher amount in 2010-11 was $6,442, and 20,996 children used a voucher to attend either secular or religious private schools. The MPCP is the oldest and largest urban school voucher program in the United …

Community Participation In Post-Tsunami Redevelopment In Aceh: The Process And Community Members' Perceptions And Preferences, Ichsan Ichsan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation research is to examine the process of community participation and community members' perceptions of and preferences for the participatory approaches in Aceh post-tsunami redevelopment. The research questions are: (1) How has the process of community participation been implemented in the redevelopment of Aceh Province after the tsunami disaster? (2) What are community members' perceptions of community participation in the redevelopment efforts after the Aceh tsunami? (3) What are community members' preferences for the community participation approaches in the redevelopment efforts after the Aceh tsunami?

I employed qualitative and quantitative methods in this study. The four …

Army Transformation: What Does It Mean?, David Jerome

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The way in which senior U.S. Army leaders such as the chiefs of staff define transformative change is important, especially if the meaning of that term is to be interpreted as originally intended by Army field grade officers. An Army chief of staff is responsible for creating a vision and establishing goals for the future, and field grade officers are responsible for pursuing that vision and those goals by implementing objectives that endeavor to arrive at the desired ends. By using both qualitative and quantitative methods, this research analyzes what each of the three chiefs of staff, who have served …

(Re)Constituting The Immigrant Body Through Policy: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Narratives Within The Discourses Of The Development, Relief, And Education For Alien Minors Act (Dream Act), Emily Rae Ironside

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using the testimonies surrounding the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) as a primary case study, this project provides a rhetorical investigation of the interplay between narratives, nation building, national identity, policymaking, and the American immigrant. This project first identifies the grand narrative of exclusionary nationalism as the primary narrative constituting the American identity. Then, this project examines the rhetoric of policymakers to demonstrate how an Anglo-Saxonized, elitist notion of American identity is rhetorically constituted by assimilationist, racist, xenophobic, and classist discourses. Moreover, it argues policymakers maintain the narrative dominance of exclusionary nationalism through restrictive immigration …

Community Expectations Of College Attendance And Completion, Michael Wade Derden

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Communities relay expectations of behavior that influence residents' decision making processes. The study's purpose was to define and identify Social, cultural, and human capital variables relevant to understanding community expectations of postsecondary attainment. The study sought an operational model of community expectancy that would allow policymakers and higher education leaders to recognize the community-level factors affecting student outcomes and then to make appropriate policy adjustments to encourage better outcomes.

The Comprehensive Longitudinal Evaluation Of The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Summary Of Fourth Year Reports, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

The eyes of the nation were on the state of Wisconsin, as Republican policymakers locked horns with the teachers union over reforms. The Republicans needed just one Democrat to break ranks in order for them to pass far-reaching policy changes. They finally got their wish when Representative Annette “Polly” Williams (D, Milwaukee) came over to their side. Surprised? That’s because the year was 1990, not 2011, and the farreaching policy reform was the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP).

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program: Descriptive Report On Participating Schools 2009 – 2010, Brian Kisida, Laura I. Jensen, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

This report is the fourth in a series of annual reports produced by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) that will provide descriptive information about the schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP).

Milwaukee Longitudinal School Choice Evaluation: Annual School Testing Summary Report 2009-10, Michael Q. Mcshane, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

With the passage of the 2005 Wisconsin Act 125, private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) have been required to administer annual standardized tests in reading, mathematics, and science to their MPCP students enrolled in the 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. The law further directs Choice schools to submit copies of the scores from those tests to the School Choice Demonstration Project for processing and reporting to the Legislative Audit Bureau. During the 2009-10 school year, MPCP schools administered either nationally normed tests, such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, or the state criterion-referenced Wisconsin Knowledge …