Social Policy Commons^™

State Child Welfare Policy: Causes And Consequences, Dana D. Connelly

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

On any given day almost 400,000 children in the United States are living in an out-of-home care placement due to government intervention. Federal law allows for substantial variance in state child welfare policy on a number of topics. These policy decisions, however, are understudied both in terms of the forces driving them and also the impacts the policies have on actual outcomes for children in care.

Utilizing a unique panel data set comprised of thirteen child welfare policies that vary both between states and over time we examine how well redistributive theory (constituent, institutional, paternalistic and resource pressures) explains state …

Sustainability Policy’S Inherent Dilemmas – Exemplified Via Critical Examination Of The Las Vegas Metropolitan Sustainability Campaign, Kathryn A. Zimmerman

All Master's Theses

In response to a dual problem of critical water scarcity and rapid population growth, leaders of metropolitan Las Vegas implemented a region-wide, internationally marketed sustainability campaign. Preliminary studies found that, while sustainability policy attains its rhetorical goals, solutions initiated not only perpetuate but also purposefully expand the original dual problem to justify continuous water resource acquisitions. To examine this sustainability conundrum constructed by leadership—problem-perpetuation rather than problem-resolution—a critical examination in resource management asked two basic questions: what is being sustained and by what means? Via this inquiry, specific processes by which leaders perpetuate problems can be identified; and, so-informed, new …

Happiness In Public Policy, Laura Musikanski

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

The happiness movement represents a new paradigm where social, economic, and environmental systems are structured to encourage human well-being in a sustainable environment. Bhutan has adopted Gross National Happiness (GNH) as a way of determining its society’s success in contrast to purely economic goals and the singular use of the gross domestic product indicator. Bhutanese policy promulgation includes use of a GNH screening tool. In the United Kingdom, happiness indicators are being used to collect data and the government is starting to explore their application to policy. The Bhutanese GNH policy screening tool has been adapted for the grassroots activists, …

Milking The System: Do Poor People Deserve Fresh Food?, Melanie M. Meisenheimer

SURGE

Poor Americans are all lazy, selfish people who must first prove their worth as human beings if they want to be able to feed their children.

It sounds harsh, stereotypical, and judgmental when you put it like that, and few people would feel comfortable saying that exact phrase. However, it’s a perception of poverty in America that I’ve found still has a strong grip on our way of thinking. [excerpt]

Letter From The Executive Director: An Accidental Protester, James Wilson

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

This past January, I spent a cold, wet, and fabulous week in Paris. One evening while strolling along the Left Bank, sauntering in the shadows of the imposing grandeur of L’Hôtel national des Invalides, I found myself caught up in a massive wave of protesters, who were dispersing from a demonstration in front of the Eiffel Tower. The crowd moved like a protean organism through the narrow Parisian streets, growing in immensity as other protest groups siphoned into the throng from criss-crossing thoroughfares.

Neither Slavery Nor Involuntary Servitude, Monti Narayan Datta

Political Science Faculty Publications

The sex trade grabs headlines, but modern-day slavery takes many forms across the globe, spreading like a cancer in the 21st century. Scholars estimate that there are as many as 27 million slaves today; the majority are not in forced prostitution, but instead in other heinous forms of exploitation (though rape and/or other forms of torture are often tools of coercion).

Slavery permeates northern India, where children, to help pay off their family's exorbitantly high debts to corrupt local businessmen, hunch over in the dark for hours at a stretch as they weave carpets on looms until their small, delicate …

Foresight And Policy: Thinking About Singapore's Future(S), Adrian W. J. Kuah

Social Space

The last three decades have seen the Singapore government’s strategic foresight enterprise shift from the area of defence and security to the socio-aspirational space. Lead Strategist, Dr Adrian W. J. Kuah discusses how strategic planning in the governing of Singapore has evolved over the years.

People Powered Social Innovation: The Need For Citizen Engagement, Julie Simon, Anna Davies

Social Space

Citizen engagement is widely regarded as critical to the development and implementation of social innovation. What is citizen engagement? What does it mean in the context of social innovation? Julie Simon and Anna Davies discuss the importance as well as the implications of engaging the ground.

Imágenes Imaginarias: La Ficción De España Bajo Francisco Franco, Joseph H. Mccann Iv

CMC Senior Theses

This essay deals with the use of censorship in propaganda in Spain during the reign of Francisco Franco.

Institutional Lending Models, Mission Drift, And Microfinance Institutions, Bethany L. Paris

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Microfinance is a development tool used to reduce poverty among extremely poor households. Impoverished households can access lines of credit through microfinance institutions (MFIs), in order to create a new business, smooth household consumption, fund medical emergencies, etc. Many authors postulate that MFIs are drifting from a welfarist to an institutionalist approach to lending.

Using MIXMarket data on specific MFIs in 118 countries between 1995 and 2011, the average loan balance of these organizations will be regressed against measure of outreach and sustainability of these institutions by charter type through a series of four, fixed effects models. The main research …

Managing The Polarities Of Democracy: A Theoretical Framework For Positive Social Change, William J. Benet

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

People around the globe have embraced democracy to bring about positive social change to address our environmental, economic, and militaristic challenges. Yet, there is no agreement on a definition of democracy that can guide social change efforts. The Polarities of Democracy model is a unifying theory of democracy to guide healthy, sustainable, and just social change efforts. The Polarities of Democracy model consists of ten elements, organized as five polarity pairs: freedom & authority, justice & due process, diversity & equality, human-rights & communal-obligations, and participation & representation. In this model each element has positive aspects and negative aspects and …

Age, Period And Cohort Effects On Social Capital, Philip Schwadel, Mike Stout

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Researchers hypothesize that social capital in the United States is not just declining, but that it is declining across generations or birth cohorts. Testing this proposition, we examine changes in social capital using age-period-cohort intrinsic estimator models. Results from analyses of 1972–2010 General Social Survey data show 1) that informal association with neighbors declined across periods while informal association with friends outside of the neighborhood increased across birth cohorts; 2) that formal association was comparatively stable with the exception of relatively high levels of formal association among the early 1920s and early 1930s birth cohorts; and 3) that trust declined …

It Will Be An Ugly Winter (Again) This Year: A Case Study Of The Vermont Community Action Partnership's Perennial Fight For Low-Income Fuel Assistance Programs, Elizabeth H. Bennett

Capstone Collection

Despite the extraordinary need for the vital Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the program has seen major budget cuts as part of the Federal Budget’s Discretionary spending, even as fuel prices rise and incomes fall. The Vermont Community Action Partnership (VCAP – also known as the Vermont CAP Directors) has been the primary advocate for LIHEAP in Vermont. This case study examines VCAP’s measures to advocate for level funding of the LIHEAP program at the federal level, as well as influencing state level decision makers to improve service delivery to Vermont’s eligible low-income households.

This study combines in-depth …

The Californians Against Sexual Exploitation (Case) Act: A Case Study In Policy Advocacy, Bailey Mannisto-Ichés

Capstone Collection

In any given year in the United States of America at least 100,000 domestic youth are sexually exploited through the commercial sex industry. Current national and state laws do not adequately protect these children from being groomed, pimped, and exploited over and over again in their young lives. A majority of these children are trafficked from, into or within the nation’s most populated state of California. In 2003 the FBI identified three of the country’s 13 high-­‐intensity child sex trafficking cities as being in California. The cycle of violence these children endure is not being brought to justice through the …

Transformasi Jazz Yogyakarta: Dari Hibriditas Menjadi Komoditas, Oki Rahadianto Sutopo

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

This article tries to show the transformation of jazz music as a cultural product in Yogyakarta. This transformation is, according to Baumann, fluid, contradictory, and ambivalent. In the origin, this music became a symbol of resistance by the lower class, whereas in Indonesia jazz became the upper middle class consumption. However, in its development, some jazz musicians try to restore the original meaning by combining local elements and bring a hybrid genre of jazz, although this was not last long. The traditional elements can not survive to bring the spirit of resistance because this new genre of jazz eventually entered …

Advancing The Human Right To Housing In Post-Katrina New Orleans: Discursive Opportunity Structures In Housing And Community Development, Leigh Graham

Publications and Research

In post-Katrina New Orleans, housing and community development (HCD) advocates clashed over the future of public housing. This case study examines the evolution of and limits to a human right to housing frame introduced by one nongovernmental organization (NGO). Ferree’s concept of the discursive opportunity structure and Bourdieu’s social field ground this NGO’s failure to advance a radical economic human rights frame, given its choice of a political inside strategy that opened up for HCD NGOs after Hurricane Katrina. Strategic and ideological differences within the field limited the efficacy of this rights-based frame, which was seen as politically radical and …

Razing Lafitte: Defending Public Housing From A Hostile State, Leigh Graham

Publications and Research

The contentious politics of the demolition of Lafitte public housing in post- Katrina New Orleans and its replacement with mixed-income properties is a telling case of the strategic conflicts housing advocates face in public housing revitalization. It reveals how the qualified outcomes of HOPE VI interact with local institutional and historical circumstances to confound the equity and social justice goals of housing and community development advocates. It shows the limits to public housing revitalization as an urban recovery strategy when hostile government leadership characterizes a region, and the state is recast as an adversary rather than revitalization partner. This case …

Who Benefits From Early Childcare Subsidy Design In Ireland?, Bernie O'Donoghue Hynes, Noirin Hayes

Articles

Best Newcomer Article

The design of policy tools reveals underlying biases that are not easily identified in policy documents. A review of two early childhood education and care subsidies in Ireland aimed at different target populations exposes differential treatment of children, parents and service providers. It also demonstrates how in a split system ‘early education’ is prioritised over ‘childcare’. The designs serve to reinforce stereotypes that enable the powerful and advantaged to accrue benefits while those perceived to be less deserving are burdened through the maldistribution of resources.

Eksklusi Sosial Dalam Anggaran Publik Studi Kasus Di Ngawi, Lamongan, Dan Makasar, Dzuriyatun Toyibah

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

The article aims to describe the process of social exclusion and inclusion within local government budget (APBD) in Lamongan and Ngawi East Java in 2006-2008, and Makasar South Sulawesi in 2009. Social exclusion was indicated by the absent of public participation in the decision making process. Social exclusion for public local budget appeared in regulation level such as unclear mechanism of public participation and the constraints to access budget documents. Those lead to avoid civil society to understand the real local budget. However, civil societies in three regions made several strategies to reduce social exclusion. The process was begun by …

Indigenous Perspectives: The Struggle For Land, Culture And Education In Rivas, Nicaragua, Jeremy Harrison-Smith

Capstone Collection

The domination of Western educational systems and the capitalist market over indigenous social economic structures has been detrimental to communities all over the world. The search for foreign investment and development opportunities, along with local government’s educational structuring has spread these systems to communities in Central America. This research explores first-hand accounts surrounding these influences through the perspectives of two Nahua indigenous communities in Rivas, Nicaragua. First, a history of indigenous struggles in Nicaragua along with U.S. economic influence on land rights, tourism and educational systems are explored. Then, the indigenous communities’ perspectives are presented to understand the effects of …

Beyond The Demographic Transition: The Case Of Japan, Mary Beth Horiai

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A combination of declining birthrates and increasing life expectancy in industrial countries has led to aging populations. In addition, more rapidly declining birth rates combined with only slowly increasing life spans has led to declining populations in some countries. These continuing demographic shifts are likely to be accompanied by economic, political and social changes. Japan is unique relative to other countries in four ways: 1) it has reached the condition of aging faster than any other industrialized country, 2) it has the highest life expectancy rate among major industrialized countries, 3) the proportion of elderly population (over 65) is the …

Female Genital Mutilation: Policies To Encourage Abandonment, Melissa Arneson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) also known as Female Genital Cutting (FGC) captured my interest the first time I heard about the practice. I assumed, wrongly, that it was only practiced in remote areas of Africa where educational opportunities were few and outside influences were nil. After researching the topic it is clear that is not the case. FGM is practiced in many countries in Africa, the Middle East, and around the world. It is a barbaric practice that has no religious significance and is incredibly harmful to women and their health, both mentally and physically. I focused my research on …

Economic Circumstances And Support For Universal Health Care, Daniel Cotter

Political Science Theses and Capstones

There have been many differing opinions over the new health care bill passed in 2010. My research is aimed at finding what factors play a role in forming an opinion on the new health care bill. Specifically looking at the economic and demographic circumstances of citizens of the United States and how it has affected their opinions on the health care bill. I use data gathered from the Pew Research Center and ran crosstabs on various different variables including opinions on the current economy, demographic characteristics, as well as opinions on the current health care plan. I anticipate finding that …

He's Our Son Of A Bitch, Robert Funk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

It is said that Franklin Delano Roosevelt defended the US tendency to support dictators by remarking, “He may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch.” The recent events in Tunisia and Egypt indicate that almost seventy years later, this unfortunate phrase seems to continue to guide US foreign policy.

Those Pesky Winds Of Change..., Walter Lotze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

When a police officer slapped a fruit seller by the name of Mohammed Bouazizi in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, nobody could have anticipated that a revolution had commenced. Bouazizi, a twenty-six-year-old computer science graduate unable to find work, had resorted to selling fruit from a street cart in an attempt to support himself and his seven siblings. Slapped by the police officer and ordered to pack up his goods, Bouazizi himself snapped. He marched to the local governor’s office and demanded an appointment, threatening to set himself alight if the governor did not meet with him. In frustration, …

Pledge Your Body For Your Bread: Welfare, Drug Testing, And The Inferior Fourth Amendment, Jordan C. Budd

Law Faculty Scholarship

Proposals to subject welfare recipients to periodic drug testing have emerged over the last three years as a significant legislative trend across the United States. Since 2007, over half of the states have considered bills requiring aid recipients to submit to invasive extraction procedures as an ongoing condition of public assistance. The vast majority of the legislation imposes testing without regard to suspected drug use, reflecting the implicit assumption that the poor are inherently predisposed to culpable conduct and thus may be subject to class-based intrusions that would be inarguably impermissible if inflicted on the less destitute. These proposals are …

Vincent Druliolle On Unearthing Franco's Legacy: Mass Graves And The Recovery Of Historical Memory In Spain. Edited By Carlos Jerez-Farrán And Samuel Amago. Notre Dame, In: University Of Notre Dame Press, 2010. 410pp., Vincent Druliolle

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Unearthing Franco's Legacy: Mass Graves and the Recovery of Historical Memory in Spain. Edited by Carlos Jerez-Farrán and Samuel Amago. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010. 410pp.

November Roundtable: Multiculturalism And Integration Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Germany's Integration Blinkers. What's So Bad About Parallel Societies?” by Henryk M. Broder, Spiegel Online, November 20, 2010

and

“Angela Merkel: German Multiculturalism has Utterly Failed,” by Matthew Weaver, The Guardian, October 17, 2010

Preservation Ethics In The Case Of Nebraska's Nationally Registered Historic Properties, Darren Michael Adams

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation focuses on the National Register of Historic Places and considers the geographical implications of valuing particular historic sites over others. Certain historical sites will either gain or lose desirability from one era to the next, this dissertation identifies and explains three unique preservation ethical eras, and it maps the sites which were selected during those eras. These eras are the Settlement Era (1966–1975), the Commercial Architecture Era (1976–1991), and the Progressive Planning Era (1992–2010). The findings show that transformations in the program included an early phase when state authorities listed historical resources pertaining to the settlement of the …

Through The Looking Glass: Finding And Freeing Modern-Day Slaves At The State Level, Michelle L. Rickert

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article delves into the interaction between federal and state laws prohibiting human trafficking. The article advocates for comprehensive human trafficking laws at the state level, including police training, victim aftercare, forfeiture, and prosecution as essential elements. It looks comprehensively at the existing state laws prohibiting human trafficking. Additionally it examines the five existing models for state law and suggests benefits and potential improvements for each model. The article concludes y advocating a holistic law prohibiting human trafficking in the Commonwealth of Virginia.