Public Policy Commons^™

Streets, Sidewalks And Covid-19: Reimaging New York City’S Public Realm As A Tool For Crisis Management, Donovan Finn

School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

The 2020 COVID-19 outbreak has caused significant disruption to economic and social systems. New York City, as the United States’ largest city and among the nation’s most densely populated, was an early epicenter of the crisis. Modifications to the design, planning and operations of the city’s public realm have been important components of the city’s overall response to mitigate the effects of the pandemic while also facilitating economic recovery and providing social, educational, and recreational opportunities for city residents. This commentary provides an overview of New York City’s urban design responses to COVID-19, highlighting some of the successes and limitations …

Communication And Culture: The Role Of Language Policy On Regional Minority Languages In The Reduction Of Political Conflict, Colin Brant

Honors Program Theses

The following thesis looks at the role of linguistic rights and proper language policy for regional minority languages in the reduction of political conflict in developed states. As renewed interest in the maintenance of regional minority languages grew in the second half of the 20th-century states' reactions to this call for linguistic rights, have informed the level of conflict seen with various linguistic minorities. The paper hopes to make a case for a system of rights and protections similar to those presented in the Oslo Recommendations (1998) as an optimal path for the reduction of conflict in developed states by …

The Role Of Female Headed Households Caring For Children And No Spouse In Gentrification In Los Angeles, Jovita Murillo

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Gentrification is the “in-migration of a relatively well-off, middle- and upper-middle-class population” into historically marginalized communities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Matsuoka et al. 2017). Literature has repeatedly shown that gentrification is placing cost and rent-burdened residents at risk of displacement due to the hike in housing prices and rents. Most cost and rent burdened households are female-headed households caring for children without a spouse (FHHCCNS) (Colburn and Allen, 2018). Given there is a lack of literature describing the role of gender in gentrification, this descriptive study aims to describe the gentrification profile in Los Angeles using multiple …

Thailand’S Digital Economy Transformation: Rectifying The Middle-Income Trap By Leveraging Digital Capabilities In The Agriculture Industry, Watanyoo Suksa-Ngiam

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The Thai government has been attempting to move the country out of the middle-income trap through digital economy strategies. Among these strategies, digital innovation is the most central. Leveraging digital capabilities in the agriculture industry, a sector that a large number of low-income farmers work in, conveys digital innovations to farmers. Digital innovation is expected to increase farmer incomes and ultimately help the country step out of the middle-income trap. This dissertation aimed to 1) identify the major challenges of digital economy transformation, 2) develop a model that explains digital agriculture innovations, 3) apply the model to real use cases …

Judicial Elections, Public Opinion, And Their Impact On State Criminal Justice Policy, Travis N. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation explores whether and how the re-election prospects faced by trial court judges in many American states influence criminal justice policy, specifically, state levels of incarceration, as well as the disparity in rates of incarceration for Whites and Blacks. Do states where trial court judges must worry about facing reelection tend to encourage judicial behavior that results in higher incarceration rates? And are levels of incarceration and racial disparities in the states influenced by the proportion of the state publics who want more punitive policies? These are clearly important questions because they speak directly to several normative and empirical …

Evidence-Based Policy And Misinformation: Exploring The Public’S Processing Of Information, Amy E. Hann

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

As the online spread of misinformation increases, policymakers are finding it more difficult to ensure that the public is only exposed to the evidence they share and that their evidence is believed. Policymakers find they must now combat misinformation spread by a variety of entities. This dissertation explored thematic concepts regarding information in existing literature – information as a thing, information as a public good, information as propaganda, information use by elected officials, and information on social media. This dissertation exposed participants to conservative and liberal misinformation and corrective information to determine how they processed policy information. This study explored …

Rural Veterans Of Texas And Their Accessibility To Mental Health Care Services, Jeremy Buchanan

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

After their service commitment has concluded, United States servicemembers are evaluated to what medical ailments and afflictions, both mental and physical, are attributed to their military service. The Department of Veterans Affairs is the government agency that is specifically tasked with the treatment and care of that exam and continuously works on this overwhelming endeavor as military members transfer out from their respective branch of service. One area that is outside of the VA’s control is where veterans will reside upon their separation from the military. When it comes to rural areas, the access to resources, primarily for this study, …

Using Input From Landlords Participating In The Dothan Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher Program (Hcvp) To Streamline Operations And Increase Retention, Michael C. Threatt

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) is a public-private partnership between a landlord, voucher holder, and a Public Housing Authority (PHA). However, this public-private partnership appears to be a two-sided partnership instead of a three-way partnership as the HCVP was designed. Over 110,000 landlords have withdrawn from the HCVP since 2009, which has negatively affected housing choices for voucher holders. This phenomenon of landlords leaving the HCVP is a catastrophe problem for the rental housing crisis that is a part of the larger affordable housing crisis. The perception of institutional bureaucracy for landlords is their reality, and the unintended consequence …

What Factors Influence The Success Of Soft Story Retrofit Programs? The Example Of San Francisco’S Program, Thanh Thuy Nguyen

Master's Projects

In the event of an earthquake, one of the types of structures that is most susceptible to collapse is soft-story buildings (Association of Bay Area Governments [ABAG], 2016). Built before current regulation and codes were enacted, a soft-story residential building is a building that has commercial space or open parking on the first floor, with units built above it (ABAG, 2016). The first floor has a weak structure and the units above the first floor weigh heavily on it (Arroyo, 2019). Due to their building structure, these properties may sway or collapse during an earthquake, ultimately causing fatalities and damage …

A Comparative Study Of The Influence Of Credential Attainment On Employment Outcomes In Rural And Urban Localities, Carrie S. Douglas

Theses and Dissertations

The significance of credentials has heightened considerably in recent decades with numerous federal and state policy initiatives aimed at increasing credential attainment. Various public workforce programs support these efforts, including the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which provided training to job-seekers from 1998 through 2015. Scholars point to human capital theory to explain how education investments yield economic gains. Screening, signaling, and credentialist theories provide a framework for examining the ways that credentials are used in labor markets. The literature on rural labor markets suggests that conditions are very different from their urban counterparts, with significant challenges existing in terms …

Social Learning Theory And Digital Piracy: Explaining Uploading Behaviors Of Digital Pirates, Cydney J. Lowenstein

Theses and Dissertations

Digital piracy has received significant attention in criminological research but almost no studies have explored illegal uploading and how it may differ from illegal downloading. It is important to examine what theories can explain illegal uploading behaviors and their related factors to develop more effective policies to address digital piracy. This dissertation examined whether Akers’ (1998) social learning theory could explain engagement in digital piracy, both illegal downloading and uploading behavior. Additionally, this research examined the relationship between reciprocity and digital piracy. Questionnaires were administered to 398 university students and 315 visitors to several online communities using a combination of …

A Sub-Sahara African Army's Perspectives Of Security Force Assistance Training Effectiveness, Richard Kemp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Past research and government reports document that Security Force Assistance (SFA) provided by the United States to partner nations often failed to achieve the desired impact of developing the capacity and capability of the partner to defeat an insurgency and maintain security. A lack of research and available data inhibit the identification of reasons SFA programs fail. In this qualitative phenomenological study, the perspectives of recipients of training were explored to understand the factors that impact the development of capability and capacity as a result of SFA training. The agency theory was applied as the theoretical framework in the study …

Leveraging Data To Reduce Gun Violence: The Cincinnati Experience, Matthew G. Hammer, Tamara D. Herold

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

The year 2020 has amplified demands for more equitable policing, more efficient government, and greater transparency. As police leaders around the world attempt to maintain order and safety during a period of large-scale civil unrest, they must also address criticisms that existing law enforcement practices include biased interventions and reinforce systemic racism. Many law enforcement agencies are also responding to increasing numbers of serious crimes that disproportionately affect society’s most vulnerable communities, while simultaneously facing calls to “defund the police” fueled by accusations that challenge the legitimacy of their policing tactics. The strategies used by agencies to manage protests and …

Crime Place Networks In Las Vegas: A New Violence Reduction Strategy, Tamara D. Herold

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

In 2017, the Las Vegas, Nevada, Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) adopted a series of interventions designed to reduce gang and gun violence across Las Vegas. In partnership with the International Association of Chiefs of Police/University of Cincinnati (IACP/UC) Center for Police Research and Policy and with evaluation funding provided by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the LVMPD implemented three violence reduction strategies: (1) focused deterrence (offender notification session); (2) hot spot patrols; and (3) place network investigations (PNI), also known as place-based investigations of violent offender territories (PIVOT), which is the focus here.

Towards A Resilient Future: Federal Policies For Adapting The U.S. Coasts To Climate Change, Samuel Horowitz

Pitzer Senior Theses

Climate change is projected to have a devastating impact on the American coast, yet coastal communities and states have largely failed to prepare for projected impacts. This is in large part due to a lack of resources. This thesis analyzes innovative federal policy mechanisms that will address the current gap between actions and forecasted impacts, and will make U.S. coastal communities more resilient in the face of climate change.

Battle Of The Sexes: A History Of Social Change And A Solution For Maintaining A Child’S Best Interest In Light Of The #Metoo Movement, Jackie Calvert

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Move Or Improve? Place, Policy, And Educator Labor Markets, Cory Curl

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

What is the role of place and policy in shaping educator labor markets during the decade following the Great Recession of 2008? This research leverages data on Kentucky students, educators, schools, and school districts from 2009 to 2018, with a focus on the rural, isolated Appalachian region. Many counties in the region have long struggled with poverty, low rates of labor force participation, lower educational attainment, and dependence on public transfers (Ziliak, 2019). Despite these challenges, the people of Appalachia demonstrate a strong attachment to the region. With this research, I enhance understanding of contexts and conditions, such as unique …

Evidence-Based Approach To Drug Crisis, Jiebing Wen

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

I am devoted to health policy research, especially tackling the opioid crisis, and evaluating marijuana laws and newly emerging issues associated with legal recreational drugs. Opioid overdose in the United States continues to jeopardize public health. Meanwhile, the majority of states have legalized medical marijuana and one third of them further liberalized recreational marijuana. Marijuana liberalization, although originally independent of the growing opioid crisis, may be a harm reduction approach to the crisis because marijuana may be a substitute for opioids in pain management at a relatively lower risk. However, marijuana liberalization may also lead to marijuana-related harms, such as …

Essays On Economic Development Policies, Hakyeon Lee

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Tax increment financing (TIF) policy is the most popular economic development policy in the United States. Despite the popularity of research on TIF, only a few comprehensive reviews of previous studies on TIF policy tool have been conducted. In light of this, the purpose of this paper is to review previous TIF studies relating to the controversy surrounding TIF programs. Specifically, previous studies do not provide clear answers about the efficacy of TIF and, indeed, raise more questions than answers. At the same time, this situation begs the question: why do local governments frequently use economic development policies? This is …

Examining The Effects Of Public Policies And Addiction On Purchase Of Tobacco Products With Causal Inference And Machine Learning Methods, Xueting Deng

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

My three essays explore the effects of tobacco policies and addiction on the consumption of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products. Recently, jurisdictions imposed taxes and other regulations on e-cigarettes, with the hope to raise tax revenues and address health concerns regarding e-cigarette use, especially youth addiction. My first essay in Chapter 1 focuses on the effects of e-cigarette taxes on sales of e-cigarettes. It compares the two types of tax policies on sales of e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and smoking-cessation products. This comparison provides information for lawmakers on decisions of taxes regarding the perspectives of revenue generation and tobacco control. Second, after …

Using Systems Archetypes And Generic Structures To Support Water Resource Management Studies : The Case Of Cropping Pattern Change In New Mexico State, Babak Bahaddin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A wide range of managerial problems are similar in nature, and yet they continuously appear in different forms and in different geographical locations. Compared to other sciences, it seems that in the field of management, managers have a hard time facing these similar problems. Part of this issues is caused by the extreme complexity of the systems and another part is caused by the lack of a universal language with which managers can communicate their lessons. This dissertation offers a set of tools that have been previously manufactured in systems science, and more specifically in System Dynamics.

Naral And The Art Of Playing Defense : How Interest Groups Act When They Seek To Protect The Status Quo Of Public Policy, Katherine Elaine Slye-Hernandez

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Why do interest groups take certain actions in policy debates and not others? How do groups seeking to protect the status quo of policy act? These questions, and others, cannot be answered well by the current interest group literature, and this dissertation seeks to delve into this line of research with a case study of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). While certain aspects of the interest group literature, and a large part of the venue shopping literature specifically, can help scholars understand some actions of groups like NARAL, there are a whole host of actions NARAL took that …

Modeling An Open Data Ecosystem : The Case Of Food Service Establishments Inspection In New York State, Mahdi Mirdamadi Najafabadi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Open Government Data (OGD) is becoming an increasingly popular initiative around the world. OGD initiatives have a broad number of stakeholders from different sectors and are influenced by many political, societal, and technological factors. In this thesis, I used the notion of Open Government Data Ecosystem (OGDE) as a holistic perspective to the OGD phenomenon, which encompasses important actors, their reciprocal interactions, and their impacts on the OGD environment.

An Exploratory Mixed Methods Study Of Geographic Mobility And Homeless Service Use In Northeastern New York State, Amanda Aykanian

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study used a mixed methods design to explore the geographic mobility of homeless service users in northeastern New York State and the relationship between mobility and homeless service use, engagement, and delivery. For the quantitative component, a sample of Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data—that includes adults accessing homeless services in 2017 across 21 counties in northeastern New York State—was used to describe service users’ mobility and the demographic, background, and service use characteristics associated with mobility. For the qualitative component, semi-structured interviews with homeless service providers in those same counties were used to understand providers’ views of mobility, …

Panel Discussion: The Right To Education: With Liberty, Justice, And Education For All?

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Leveraging Big Data : Predicting Traffic Risk And Providing Early Warning Due To Adverse Weather Conditions, Sreekumar E. Nampoothiri

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The proliferation of big data has allowed researchers to delve deeper into data and gain better understandings within almost every field. In the fields of transportation planning and traffic management, past research has shown direct relationships among weather conditions and traffic speed, volume, and congestion. However, these studies have mostly relied on static data that were spatially and temporally sparse or collected on a specific roadway for a specific time period for research purposes. With the need to address the impacts of climate change, including an increasing number of extreme weather events as well as an increasing intensity of such …

Nebraska School Violence Prevention Toolkit For K-12 School Threat Assessment Teams, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Denise Bulling

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Introduction

This toolkit provides guidance for school threat assessment teams to encourage the reporting of concerning behavior that may threaten safety and security of schools. Part I (“Reporting School Violence Before it Happens”) provides an overview of the importance of reporting school violence, and outlines specific barriers to reporting among youth, school staff, and parents/guardians. Part II (“Developing and Implementing a Reporting Process”) provides guidance on important features of a reporting process for potential or actual violence and other safety concerns. Part III (“Special Considerations”) discusses three particular problems affecting school youth: suicide, bullying/cyberbullying, and dating- related violence and abusive …

Unfunded Stakeholder Mandates And Nonprofit Performance Impacts, Courtney Lyn Coe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small nonprofit organizations, with annual budgets of $500,000 or less, are assigned many obligations by external stakeholders while conducting their mission-related work. However, little is known about the impact of these obligations or mandates being received from their external stakeholders, which rarely have funding allocated to minimize any capacity impact they create. The purpose of this study was to learn about whether, and how, the organizational capacity of small nonprofit organizations is impacted by unfunded mandates. Applying the theoretical framework of rational choice theory, the patterns revealed by the data allow the ability to draw conclusions based upon the lived …

Epidemiology And Criminology: Managing Youth Firearm Homicide Violence In Urban Areas, Joseph Anthony Mcmillan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Violence is considered a public health problem in the United States, yet little is known about the benefit of using a combined epidemiology and criminology (EpiCrim) approach to focus on urban youth gun violence. The purpose of this general qualitative study was to determine in what ways Akers and Lanier's EpiCrim approach in tandem with Benet's polarities of democracy approach is explanatory of gun homicides by youth in U.S. urban areas and if the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System adequately addresses gun abatement measures. Data were collected through semi structured interviews of 16 criminal justice practitioners and medical professionals with …

Division Ii Football Players' Perceptions Of Ncaa And Finding Balance Between Athletics And Education, Morgan Laine Lehman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mandates and regulations from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have caused extreme reforms to take effect in the NCAA's education system. However, little is known about how these reforms have impacted student-athletes participating in college athletics. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how Division II football players from public colleges and universities view their ability to balance their education and athletics to create a well-rounded college life. Astin's involvement theory was used to frame this study. Open ended questionnaire data was collected from 12 college football players, enrolled in public, Division II colleges and universities. …