Public Policy Commons^™

A Duty To Share: The Opportunities And Obstacles Of Federal Counterterrorism Intelligence Sharing With Nonfederal Fusion Centers, Jeffrey V. Gardner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Little is known about how effectively federal agencies share terrorism intelligence with state and local governments through fusion centers. As a result, there is a risk that local governments do not receive critical intelligence that would allow them to collaboratively prevent catastrophic terrorist attacks. Using Dawes' interagency information sharing model, the purpose of this exploratory case study was to evaluate how effectively federal agencies share terrorism intelligence with fusion centers. Data were collected through interviews with 25 senior leaders, federal agents deployed to fusion centers, and intelligence analysts in 5 fusion centers on the East Coast. These data were inductively …

Minority Business Enterprise Program's Impact On African American Businesses In Atlanta, Georgia, William Alvin Hopkins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There was a long history of Jim Crow laws in the State of Georgia, which permeated in social, educational, and economical ways that prohibited African American business owners from competing for the state contracts. In 1982, there was a shift in state policy that implemented an outreach programs to seek out African American businesses and ensure that those interested businesses were enrolled as registered vendors for procurement. Yet little is known about the success of those outreach efforts over the last 35 years. Using Swearing and Plank's work on survival of minority business programs as a conceptual framework, this study …

An Exploration Of Efforts To Combat Human Trafficking In A Small Community, Shirley Konneh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Human trafficking is a global crime that violates the rights of people by holding them in captivity and coercing them into sexual slavery or strenuous labor. It has become a growing phenomenon on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with no signs of stopping. Using John Kingdon's work on multiple policy streams as the primary theoretical foundation, the purpose of this case study was to identify the perceived barriers to implementing existing Massachusetts's policies targeting human trafficking on Cape Cod as experienced by social service providers and law enforcement. Data were collected from 6 participants through e-mail interview. These data were inductively coded …

Decision Processes, Synergism, And Shared Governance In A California Community College District, Howard Teruo Kubota

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many California community colleges face difficult decisions when implementing the State's shared governance mandate on institutional planning and budgeting processes. Using Allison and Zelikow's rational, organizational, and political decision models as the foundation, the purpose of this narrative study was to explore decision processes used by a successful community college district in California to understand its success with the State's mandated institutional planning and budgeting processes. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 10 individuals representing a board of trustees, 3 administrations, 3 academic senates, and a faculty association. Data were inductively coded and then subjected to Ollerenshaw and Creswell's …

Incident Traffic Management Respone, Debroah Lynn Leonard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) and the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) are often called upon to assist in traffic incidents. Yet little systematic research has examined the extent to which these two agencies collaborate. This gap in understanding is problematic, as a lack of collaboration may result in significant delays in the clearing of traffic incidents. The purpose of this correlational study was to investigate circumstances when the two agencies collaborated in clearing major traffic incidents, and the efficiency of the clearance of the incidents, through the measurement of normal traffic flow. The theory of the …

Effect Of The National Accelerated Agricultural Inputs Access Subsidy Program On Fertilizer Usage And Food Production In Kakamega County, Western Kenya, Abednego Kiwia Mavuthu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite 25 years of concerted efforts by African governments to adopt consistent policies for increasing food production, hunger and poverty are still prevalent in the continent. Using Bernanke's conceptualization of the credit channel theory of monetary policy, the purpose of this correlational study was to investigate whether a subsidy program, the National Accelerated Agricultural Inputs Access Program (NAAIAP), affected the rates of fertilizer usage and food production in Kakamega County, Western Kenya. Purposive stratified sampling was used to select 114 participants consisting of 72 farmers in each of the 2 groups: NAAIAP beneficiaries and nonbeneficiaries. Participants completed a survey on …

Oversight And Quality Assurance Of Academic Programs Under F-1 Visas, Faye Janine Pleso

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An F-1 academic visa is required for foreign students studying at academic institutions in the United States. While requirements for acquiring the F-1 visa are a matter of federal policy, some of the principles regulating orientations, host families, and home-stays do not align with best practices found at the university level, which include quality student orientations and thorough trainings with a vetting process for host families and home-stays. This lack of regulation may place visiting students at risk in terms of personal safety and wellbeing and have negative impacts for program credibility and lost revenue. Using Stone's regime theory as …

The Effects Of The Foreclosure Crisis On The Black And Hispanic Population In Lee County, Florida, Stenia K. Reid-Hall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The housing foreclosure crisis of 2007-2010 in the United States disproportionately affected persons of color. Some states, such as Florida, were heavily impacted by property value losses, yet there has been little research since about the experience of losing a home and recovering from that loss from the perspective of the homeowner. Using Carlson's conceptualization of resiliency theory, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to assess the impact of housing foreclosure and the experience of recovery from foreclosure on Black and Hispanic people in Lee County, Florida. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 15 people in Lee County …

An Eritrean Perspective Of Africa's Potential For Indigenous, Independent Food Sustainability, Tewelde W. Tesfagabir

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Food insecurity in Africa is a threat to future generations because many countries rely on potentially unsustainable food policies. Eritrea's indigenous food sustainability policy has not been explored or analyzed in a scholarly manner. This qualitative case study analyzed the effectiveness of the current policy of food sustainability without relying on foreign food aid in Eritrea. The main research question addressed relates to how Eritrean irrigation farmers understand and implement the Eritrean government's food sustainability policy. The theoretical framework for this study, Kingdon's policy stream, set the agenda for a policy of sustainable indigenous Eritrean agricultural development without food aid. …

Engaging The Private Sector To Fortify Strategic Base And Port Community Resiliency In The Aftermath Of A National Crisis, Rosalie J. Wyatt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The initial 72 hours after a large-scale crisis are critical in terms of preserving life and property, and the private sector and its critical infrastructure are often called upon to assist government organizations in such events. However, little research explores the unique circumstances surrounding the relationship between public-private partnerships and community resilience in strategic communities including military installations and ports. Using Bryson, Crosby, and Stone's conceptualization of cross-sector collaboration, the purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a theory of private sector engagement and collaboration with military base and port community leaders in response to large scale crises. …

The Effects Of Education Narratives On High School Persistence Among Navajo Girls, Nancy Catherine Carre

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Dropout rates among American Indian students have not shown significant improvement since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. While extensive research exists on the dropout phenomenon, no studies were found that addressed why some Navajo girls leave school and the role education narratives play in their decision. Accordingly, this study examined the narratives shaping federal and Navajo education policies in order to understand how these influence school programs. The research questions dealt with three elements that could induce Navajo girls to leave school, the institutions and programs offered by federal and tribal government entities, …

Compliance Of Caregivers With Polio Vaccine Dosages And Timelines In Lagos State Nigeria, Grace Olubunmi Salako Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Caregivers' compliance with polio vaccine regimens and timely receipt of the recommended 4 doses of polio vaccine are pivotal to eliminating polio. This cross sectional study, conducted in Lagos State, Nigeria, examined polio vaccine compliance and demographic attributes of caregivers' for statistically significant associations. Using an adapted health belief model theoretical framework, 1,200 participants were recruited from well-baby clinics in 8 local government areas in Lagos State. Participants completed a brief demographic survey providing data on caregivers' age, gender, residence (rural or urban), and their level of education as well as records from their children's immunization cards. Data obtained were …

Understanding The Impact Of Foreclosed Homes In Charlotte Neighborhoods, Justice Uche Uche

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Following the increase in foreclosures across the United States from 2007 to 2009, there was concern that foreclosed homes could lead to higher rates of crime in certain neighborhoods. Using social disorganization theory, the purpose of this difference-in-difference research design was to study the link between foreclosure levels, and crime rates in neighborhoods in Charlotte, North Carolina. Propensity score matching was used to examine whether neighborhood foreclosure rates have an impact on neighborhood crime level while controlling for neighborhood conditions. Data were acquired from Charlotte Neighborhood Quality of Life Studies, conducted biannually in 173 neighborhoods in Charlotte, North Carolina. …

Researchers', Stakeholders', And Investors' Perceptions Of U.S. Stem Cell Research Policy, Dorothy King-Moore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Federal support and funding for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research in the United States lags behind stem cell programs in many countries because of the divisive debate over hESC research and the continually evolving federal policies that have hindered research efforts. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of stem cell researchers, stakeholders, and investors in the United States about the effects of the current federal stem cell policy on stem cell research in the United States, the moral disagreement with stem cell research, and their recommendations to improve stem cell research policy in the …

Silent Policy Feedback Through School Choice, Catherine Cecchini Little-Hunt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Increasing numbers of Florida parents are withdrawing their children from traditional public schools in highly-rated school districts to enroll them in tuition-free, startup, charter schools. Since not all parents have equal access or are as equally motivated to elect school choice alternatives, the fiscal sustainability of the traditional public school system is at risk. Using Schattschneider's policy feedback process as a model, the purpose of this research was to gain an in depth understanding of the role policy perception plays on the decision-making process by parents. Data for this qualitative single-case study were collected through interviews with 8 charter school …

How Do Counterterrorism Policies Influence Domestic Terrorism On Military Installations, Leona Rena Monroe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Department of Defense (DoD) utilizes risk management to develop antiterrorism practices and policies on military installations. However, there is a gap in understanding the impact these practices have on the culture and relationship among military personnel and their civilians. Using Schneider and Ingram's conceptualization of social construction of target populations, the purpose of this ethnographic qualitative study was to understand the nature of the relationship between antiterrorism programs, culture, and risk management on a single military installation. Using a snowball sampling strategy, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 participants who were either a civilian or military person …

Strategic Lay Leadership Involvement In The Social Mission Of A Western Ontario Denomination, Isaac Osei-Akoto

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several Ontario communities face challenges requiring harnessing multisectorial partnerships to bring about community transformation. The church has the capacity to contribute to the community transformation needs of its community, but a particular denomination in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) appeared to be unaware of how to fulfil its social mission of community transformation. The purpose of this case study was to understand how members of the clergy perceived the lay leadership vacuum in the denomination and how these perceptions appear to inhibit the denomination's achievement of its social mission. The theoretical framework was Akingbola's strategic nonprofit human resource management theory. …

Analytic Tradecraft In The U.S. Intelligence Community, John Joseph Borek

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 addressed the belief that weak analytic tradecraft had been an underlying cause of intelligence failures in the U.S. by requiring the Director of National Intelligence to establish and enforce tradecraft standards throughout the U.S. intelligence community (IC). However, analytic tradecraft-the innate abilities and learned skills of intelligence analysts, combined with the tools and technology needed to conduct analysis-is an understudied and poorly understood concept and a decade later, the frequency of intelligence failures has not improved. Using actor-network theory (ANT) as the foundation, the purpose of this qualitative narrative study was …

Law Enforcement Fitness Policies In Relation To Job Injuries And Absenteeism, Marlana Lynn Hancock

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

After employment, job-related fitness requirements vary for law enforcement agencies within North Carolina. Police academies mandate specific job-related fitness requirements for recruits as a condition of graduation. Once employed, little is known about why some law enforcement agencies in North Carolina have physical fitness policies and others do not, particularly when injury rates and healthcare costs continue to rise. To better understand this inconsistency, the current study used a mixed methods approach to examine 6 midsized law enforcement agencies in North Carolina with varying fitness policies. The policy of each agency, along with OSHA work-related injuries and absenteeism reports, were …

Police And Citizens' Perceptions Of Community Policing In Richmond, Virginia, Denita R. Square-Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community policing is an initiative that requires public cooperation and participation to be successful. Little is known, however, about police and citizens' perceptions of community policing and its impact on Richmond, Virginia neighborhoods. Using policy feedback theory as a lens, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and gain a better understanding of RPD's and Richmond citizens' perceptions of community-oriented policing strategies in Richmond neighborhoods. Research questions focused on how officers and citizens perceive the impact of community policing strategies and the specific strategies they viewed as most successful in building public trust. Data were collected from a …

Law Enforcement Officer Knowledge Of Mental Illness, Nashira Funn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Media and activist groups have recently exposed the problem of negative interactions between law enforcement officers and civilians. Many of these civilians have a mental illness. Various researchers attribute these negative interactions to insufficient officer knowledge of mental illness due to a lack of training, education, and personal experiences. Very little research addresses how insufficient knowledge of mental illness may influence interactions. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and analyze self reported law enforcement knowledge using Malcolm Knowles' conceptualization of adult learning theory and andragogy as the theoretical framework. This framework bases self-directed learning/training on a needs …

A Case Study Of Rural Community Colleges' Transition To Entrepreneurship, James D. Genandt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The traditional role of workforce training by community colleges in support of regional economic development is insufficient to help rural areas survive in a global economy. Rural community colleges are uniquely positioned to provide enhanced economic development support through entrepreneurship and small business development programs. Using Woolcock and Narayan's conceptualization of social capital, the purpose of this case study of 4 community colleges in a midwest state was to identify specific entrepreneurship strategies rural community colleges use relative to economic development. The data were collected via email and telephone interviews with 11 employees connected to leadership and/or economic development from …

Understanding Judiciary Interpretation Of A Qualified Disability Post-Ada Amendments, Daniel Frank Hallman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 1990, the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) was enacted to support disabled Americans as they sought to procure equality in society and the workplace. Despite these intentions, full implementation of the ADA has been fraught with court challenges and legislative amendments. As it currently stands, it is unclear as to how the judicial system is collectively interpreting a qualified disability. Using Clark and Connolly's interpretation of legal textualism as the theoretical foundation, the purpose of this case study of the Americans with Disabilities Act was to better understand and explore how the judiciary is currently interpreting qualified disability post-ADA …

Realigning Community Policing In A Homeland Security Era, Alfred Stanford Titus, Jr.

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The priority shift from community policing to homeland security in local police departments in the United States has threatened the relationships and successes established by community policing, though little empirical research explored the relationship between funding and implementation of homeland security versus community policing objectives among local law enforcement agencies. Using Karl Popper's conceptualization of the liberal democracy as the framework, the purpose of this descriptive study was to examine how trends in funding and implementation of both community policing and homeland security objectives changed among American law enforcement agencies between 1993 and 2013. Data were acquired from the Law …

Agent-Based Overlapping Generations Modeling For Educational Policy Analysis, Connie Hou-Ning Wang

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Educational systems are complex adaptive systems (CAS). The macroeffects of an educational policy emerge from and depend on individual students' reactions to the policy. However, educational policymakers traditionally rely on equation-based models, which are deficient in reflecting the work of microbehaviors. Using inappropriate tools to make policies may be a reason why there were many unintended educational consequences in history. A proper methodology to design and analyze policies for complex educational systems is agent-based modeling (ABM). Grounded in the theories of CAS and computational irreducibility, ABM is capable of connecting microbehaviors with macropatterns. The purpose of this study was to …

The President Management Agenda: An Examination Of Federal Employees' Perceptions, Famane Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gauging the quality of the relationship between federal managers and employees and its impact on organizational performance excellence is a continuing problem for the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM). President Barack Obama's President's Management Agenda mandated several actions- to respond to the problem. Part of the mandate was to use data from the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) to gauge the relationship between management and employees and overall performance. The FEVS is a tool that measures employees' perceptions of whether, and to what extent, conditions that characterize successful organizations are present in their agencies. The research question for the …

Mitigating Underage Marriage Of Girls In Bo Town, Sierra Leone, Anne-Marie Kumba Kamanda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The underage marriage of girls (UMG) practice by some parents continues to occur in Bo Town, Sierra Leone, and it is a problem. Regardless of the negative consequences, parents continue to marry off their young girls who become wives of rebels and participate in the civil war. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of adult women between 18 and 24 who experienced child marriage, parents who married off their young girls, and community leaders to understand why the UMG persisted in Bo Town. The theoretical frameworks used in this study were the social cognitive …

Assessing Electoral Process Challenges Through Poll Workers' Performance In Sub-Saharan Africa-Togo, Kokouvi Momo Amegnran

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Contenders disputing electoral results in Sub-Saharan African countries often attribute defects in presidential electoral processes to the implementation of rules and procedures. Yet despite the considerable decision-making authority poll workers are entrusted with and the significance of the tasks performed by therm, scholars have not closely investigated poll workers'contributions to elections' management in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using principal-agent theory as the foundation, the purpose of this case study was to examine the challenges encountered in the organization of the presidential election in Togo, held on April 25, 2015, with a particular emphasis on poll workers' job performance. Research questions focused on …

Crime Reduction Strategies Of Florida Sheriff's Offices Related To Residential Burglaries, Jack Armstrong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Florida, the law enforcement response to burglaries is estimated to cost $1.3 billion, yet little is understood about whether specific types of enforcement and investigation strategies have an impact on reducing the incidence of burglary. Using Cohen and Felson's concept of guardianship as part of routine activities theory as the foundation, the purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to examine whether any or all crime reduction strategies (community policing, intelligence led policing, Compare Statistics policing, traditional policing, hot spot policing, and evidence based policing) when combined with urbanity, household income, the sworn officers per 1000 population are statistically …

A Quantitative Examination Of The Impact Of Protective Orders On Teen Dating Violence, Sonia Ann Layne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teen dating violence is a national epidemic with prevalence similar to levels of adult dating and domestic violence. Some states order of protection laws currently fails to protect most teen victims experiencing dating violence. The purpose of this experimental, quantitative study was to determine to what extent domestic violence statutes impact the reporting of teen dating violence in states that provide statutory protection of teen dating violence victims. The advocacy coalition framework was used for the study's theoretical foundation. The research questions focused on differences between the strength of state's advocacy coalition programs, and the prevalence of female teens reporting …