Public Affairs Commons^™

Ua51/1 Collections & Connections, Jennifer Wilson

Collections & Connections

Collections & Connections is a bi-annual publication of the Western Kentucky University Libraries featuring the Libraries' events with a view of reaching out to the Libraries supporters in the community. This issue highlights the creation of an Open Access Hall of Fame, the Evelyn Thurman Book Award, and SOKY reads.

Diffusion Of Locally Developed Applications Across The United States Judiciary, Edmund Warren Dieth

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

Current literature suggests that networks impact the diffusion of innovations. This dissertation seeks to uncover the reasons behind diffusion patterns of locally developed applications (LDAs) across the United States judiciary. Due to a lacuna in the relevant diffusion literature, the effects of professional networks on diffusion patterns are of particular interest in this study. Professional networks include inter-agency networks, national organizational networks, or external personal-professional networks. LDAs are products, mostly software, created within a judicial district to enhance its effectiveness or efficiency. Often these applications are developed to address an internal issue in a district. However, the issue is not …

Representative Bureaucracy And The Indirect Effects Of Substantive Co-Worker Representation, Nita Clark

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

The theory of representative bureaucracy has been suggested as an equity oriented tool that could work to alter the negative aspects of majority rule. Ongoing debates over the best way to ensure and enhance equity for underrepresented groups continue to question the value of representative bureaucracy as it has concentrated on passive (descriptive) and active representation. Such representation where administrators look like the clientele they are serving and subsequently work to generate outcomes for those clients certainly has value. However it is not a certainty that a bureaucrat sharing a similar traits as the group being served (passive representation) will …

An Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of The Use Of Social Media By United Way Of Westchester And Putnam, Dian Xi, Ziyun Gao

Master in Public Administration Theses

No abstract provided.

Two Models Of Teacher Accountability Toward An Explanation For The Disappointing Results Of Some Market-Based School Reforms, Lenahan O'Connell, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Accountability is a pivotal concern of applied social science. This article asserts that in many situations a full explanation of the sources of accountability requires the application of concepts from sociology and management science, in addition to those from the market-based approaches inspired by economics. The article describes the market-based approach to accountability exemplified by agency theory, applies it to school reform and derives several predictions about the likely success of market-based approaches to school reform, and documents the lack of evidence supporting the contention that programs for school choice will markedly improve teacher work effort and performance (as measured …

The Impact Of Disability: A Comparative Approach To Medical Resource Allocation In Public Health Emergencies, Katie Hanschke, Leslie E. Wolf, Wendy F. Hensel

Faculty Publications By Year

It is a matter of time before the next widespread pandemic or natural disaster hits the United States (U.S.). The international response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza stands as a cautionary tale about how prepared the world is for such an emergency. Although the pandemic fortunately proved to be less severe than initially anticipated, it nevertheless resulted in shortages of medical equipment, overburdened hospitals, and preventable patient deaths, particularly among young people.

A pandemic will inevitably lead to difficult decisions about the allocation of medical resources, such as who will have priority access to ventilators and critical care beds when …

Toward Coherent Federal Oversight Of Medicine, Patricia J. Zettler

Faculty Publications By Year

The conventional wisdom in U.S. health law and policy holds that states regulate medical practice – the activities of physicians and other health care professionals – while the federal government regulates medical products. But relying on states as the principal regulators of medical practice has, at times, driven law and policy in directions that are problematic from a public health perspective, as demonstrated by a deadly 2012 outbreak of fungal meningitis that was linked to a state-regulated practice known as drug compounding. This Article argues that the federalism concerns underlying the conventional wisdom are misplaced. It demonstrates that, contrary to …

Fair Equality Of Opportunity: Reconceiving Affirmative Action Through A Rawlsian Lens, Janelle Garcelon

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines common and past applications of affirmative action, including arguments for and against the application; presents John Rawls’ theory of justice, and proposes a framework using Rawls’ theory for future applications of affirmative action. The proposal relieves heavily on the principle of fair equality of opportunity, both as an indicator for when using affirmative action is appropriate as well as a tool to help identify the people that affirmative action programs should target. Using this framework, the public education system is identified as a sector of society that fails to provide fair equality of opportunity for all citizens, …

Diffusion Of Locally Developed Applications Across The United States Judiciary, Edmund Warren Dieth

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

Current literature suggests that networks impact the diffusion of innovations. This dissertation seeks to uncover the reasons behind diffusion patterns of locally developed applications (LDAs) across the United States judiciary. Due to a lacuna in the relevant diffusion literature, the effects of professional networks on diffusion patterns are of particular interest in this study. Professional networks include inter-agency networks, national organizational networks, or external personal-professional networks. LDAs are products, mostly software, created within a judicial district to enhance its effectiveness or efficiency. Often these applications are developed to address an internal issue in a district. However, the issue is not …

Legislature’S Planning Committee 2015 Report, Tanya Cook, Paul Schumacher, Galen Hadley, Bob Krist, Heath Mello, Kathy Campbell, Mike Gloor, Merv Riepe, Ken Schilz

Past Publications

A message from Senator Tanya Cook, Chair of the Legislature’s Planning Committee 2015-2016

The Legislature’s Planning Committee serves a vital role in the Nebraska Unicameral. In an era of term limits, the Planning Committee provides future-focused, data-driven research for senators to use in crafting smart, effective policies.

The 2015 Database Update continues to highlight nine key benchmarks – Economy, Agriculture, Natural Resources, State and Local Government, Education, Health and Human Services, Public Safety, Transportation, and Telecommunications – that give a well-rounded picture of the state’s strengths, struggles, and opportunities.

The Planning Committee owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. John …

Nebraska Legislative District Quick Facts From The 2009-2013 American Community Survey, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Past Publications

The Nebraska Legislature's Planning Committee was created in 2009 with the passage of LB 653 in order to help establish a process of long-term state planning with the Nebraska Legislature. The committee was created to assist state government in identifying emerging trends, assets and challenges of the state and the long-term implications of the decisions made by the Nebraska Legislature.

State Fertility Rates By Race/Ethnicity: 2011-2015 Averages, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Past Publications

Sources: Table 11, Births: Final Data for 2011 (and 2012 to 2015), National Center for Health Statistics;
2016 Population Estimates by Age, Gender, and Race (AFF table PEPASR6H), U.S. Census Bureau.

Tables Summarizing Births And Fertility Rates By Race And Ethnicity Of The Mother In The U.S. And Nebraska: 1989 To 2013, David Drozd

Past Publications

U.S. Fertility Rates Now Not that Different by Race and Ethnicity; Nebraska Fertility Rates Well Above U.S. Average

Table 1. Annual Estimates Of The Resident Population For The United States, Regions, States, And Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 To July 1, 2015, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Past Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Discussion And Information On Public Support For Tax And Fee Increases For Transportation, Juita-Elena Yusuf, Lenahan O'Connell

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This research note compares the effect on willingness to raise taxes and government fees of three common approaches to public consultation: (a) a telephone survey with no information or discussion, (b) a focus group with discussion but no information relating need to the proposed tax or fee, and (c) a focus group with discussion and such information. Our purpose is twofold: (a) illustrate the contribution of pertinent information to public acceptance of tax or fee increases, and (b) suggest a more comprehensive and informative approach to consultation with the public. We do so using the examples of raising the gas …

Community Advanced Data And Research Analysis: A Mixed Methods Capstone Project, Michael Bernarndo, Brandie Green, Amber Konold, Kathryn Weavil

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Community Advanced Data and Research Analysis project, or CADRA, is project that houses an interdisciplinary research team located at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The vision of CADRA, as defined by its stakeholders, is to create positive community outcomes by encouraging and engaging nonprofit organizations, as well as student and professional researchers, to develop and evolve their data management practices. CADRA offers three program options including Nonprofit Audits, Program Development and Grant Writing, and Community Data Mining. The purpose of this program evaluation will be to evaluate the Community Advanced Data and Research Analysis (CADRA) Project, with a …

Efficiency Of Unified Vs. Non-Unified State Judiciaries: An Examination Of Court Organizational Performance, William Raftery

Theses and Dissertations

State court systems function in much the same manner as any other government agency in terms of organization and management to utilize public resources in order to provide a public service. The question posed in the late 19th century was whether the courts should be organized and managed as they had been for centuries as local entities locally controlled and operated or transferred to the state level. The desired end was a more efficient use of public resources to achieve faster disposition of cases. This reorganization, called unification, was made up of three individual components: 1) consolidation required the reduction …

2015 January, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for January of 2015.

2015 Web Features, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Web features for 2015.

Racism Vs. Social Capital: A Case Study Of Two Majority Black Communities, Bruce W. Strouble

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Several researchers have identified social capital as a means to improve the social sustainability of communities. While there have been many studies investigating the benefits of social capital in homogeneous White communities, few have examined it in Black homogeneous communities. Also, there has been limited research on the influence of racism on social capital in African American communities. In this dissertation a comparative case study was used within a critical race theory framework. The purpose was to explore the role of racial oppression in shaping social capital in majority African American communities. Data were collected from 2 majority Black communities …