Public Policy: Professional Papers
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Item Emphasizing the "Public" in Public Affairs Implementing a bottom-up, blog-centric new media strategy at an institution of public policy(2008-05-29) Lampa, GrahamIn the Spring of 2007, the University of Minnesota's Office of Service and Continuous Improvement (OSCI) approved a grant from its Service and Process Improvement Fund (SPIF) for a grassroots initiative entitled “Emphasizing the "Public" in Public Affairs” (see Appendix A). The aim of the proposal was to use an already existing university resource called “UThink” to build weblogs for the various research centers at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs to enable the centers to better publicize their own research and events and to serve as easily accessible public affairs resources for each center's particular policy field, policy makers, the blogosphere, the mainstream media, and elite or otherwise highly engaged publics. At $12,125, the grant was the smallest approved by OSCI for the 2007-2008 academic year, and was funded primarily due to the substantial benefit/cost ratio it promised to achieve. Further, the committee which approved the project included the following affirmation of its merits: “Reviewers supported this project because it will further develop the Humphrey Institute as an exceptional organization. It will be a model for other departments to follow and it will demonstrate what is possible through UThink with a systematic and coordinated plan” (OSCI, 2007). Most blogs hosted by the UThink system are deployed in an ad-hoc fashion as personal opinion blogs, collaborative research blogs, or as online complements to offline, traditional courses taught at the University. The Humphrey blogging project, by contrast, is an organized institution-wide effort that seeks to integrate blogs and blogging practices into the core of the organization's academic research and outreach efforts.Item The Impact of South Africa’s Language-in-Education Policy on the Educational Attainment of Black South African Students(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2008-09-18) Curry, RasheedaItem Building a Culture of Inclusion: Developing an Innovative Workforce in the Public Sector(Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2008-12-11) Belanger, Tanya; Moua, LilyCharged to develop recommendations for the MN Department of Human Services (DHS), Health Care Administration's (HCA) workforce planning, diversity and cultural competency priorities; a diagnostic assessment of organizational culture and recommendations outlining a long-term diversity and cultural competency plan was completed by University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs graduate students, Lily Moua and Tanya BelangerItem The Eleven Distinctions(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-01-22) Lindsley, BryanThis paper discusses eleven distinctions that develop ideas about how society can ensure that every individual is given the capacity to reach her highest potential. The distinctions show us that the mother‐child (and/or caretaker‐child) relationship and early environments not only overwhelmingly shape each person’s development, but also serve as a model for human development in all stages of life; that humans control their environments; that the nature of work is changing and the only successful response is continual learning; that systems designed to share knowledge with and collect knowledge from all participants build trust and accomplish goals. Problems with current learning systems, how value is derived in the modern economy, and implementation of Learning and Working Communities are also discussed.Item An Examination Of What Causes Pollution and Resource Depletion(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-01-30) Walter, David E.What is it that drives humans to pollute and deplete resources to the extent they do? Extensive pollution and resource depletion are problems unique to humans. Besides specific health and survivability issues resulting from pollution and resource depletion, populations have crashed to the point of extirpation in the past, in part due to societal stress induced by anthropogenic resource depletion. While no other population has achieved the degree of technological complexity that exists today, the underlying, fundamental needs of all societies are the same: clean resources, available in the quantities needed to allow survival. When those resources are at risk, the population is threatened. Proactively addressing this threat is a fundamental policy issue. Instead of seeking specific solutions to individual issues of pollution and resource depletion, this paper aims for a broad view, to understand the underlying forces that drive these two problems. With this understanding would come the insight to design policy to proactively mitigate or ideally stop pollution and resource depletion, and hopefully avoid societal trauma.Item Creating Capacity to Address the Challenges Facing the Next Generation of Nonprofit Leaders(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-03-15) Schupbach, JeremyThis paper provides a study of the nonprofit sector's need to develop a new generation of leaders who can capitalize on strategic and political opportunities to advance their organizations in a rapidly changing environment. The paper contends that current leaders need to invest in future leaders, as nonprofits must now (more than ever) compete for talented professionals. Nonprofit leaders are also encouraged to understand the political frame, and to develop the strategic and political skills critical to successful leadership. In terms of method, the paper relies on a literature review and also draws on the author's own professional experience. After the introduction there are two main sections. The first addresses the growing concern for leadership development, especially the need to develop, recruit and retain a new generation of nonprofit leadership. The second focuses on the importance of developing political knowledge and strategic leadership in nonprofit organizations. A final concluding section contains three primary recommendations for nonprofit leaders: - Recommendation 1: Successful Leaders Must be Strategic Thinkers - Recommendation 2: Develop the Capacity to Recruit and Equip Future Leaders - Recommendation 3: Cultivate and Learn to Apply Political Skill and KnowledgeItem The Work-Life Balance in Crisis: Leave taking among employed women in the United States(Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-03-30) Saunoi-Sandgren, EmilyIn the United States today, many working parents struggle to balance their work and family responsibilities. No standard for success in maintaining this balance exists and many families struggle daily with the competing needs of work and family without any support from society at large. While women’s rates of labor force participation are gaining parity to men in the workforce, women still feel more acutely this work-life struggle. In her book, The Price of Motherhood, Ann Crittenden (2001) writes, “There is increasing evidence in the United States and worldwide that mothers’ differential responsibility for children, rather than classic sex discrimination, is the most important factor disposing women to poverty” (p. 88). Women’s greater responsibility in the private sphere of domestic work heightens their risk of economic insecurity and is shown to decrease their participation in civic and political activities, thereby reducing women’s individual and collective power (Gornick & Meyers 2003). Compounding the issue of a woman’s unequal burden of caretaking is the greater burden experienced by low-income women and women of color who have fewer resources to provide care, and less affordable time away from work to give to caretaking (Gerstel & McGonagle 1999).Item Economic Mobility and Expenditure Growth: The Effects of Measurement Error in Peruvian Data(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-04) Ravina, RenatoAlthough several authors have shown evidence that expenditure and income data obtained from household surveys is typically measured with a large amount of error1, there are not many studies using data from Latin America that address this issue. As a result, studies that calculate different economic indicators, such as poverty or inequality indexes or economic mobility for Latin America countries, are usually contaminated by measurement error in the data (Duval Hernández et.al., 2006). This paper uses nationally representative panel data from Peru to estimate the effect of measurement error on estimated economic mobility and the growth rate of per capita expenditures for years 2004 to 2006. More specifically, two alternative methods proposed by Luttmer (2002) and Glewwe and Dang (2005) are implemented to estimate the impact of the measurement error on the observed variance of the logarithm of per capita expenditures. These results are then used to assess the relative importance of measurement error in the estimation of economic mobility in Peru between 2004 and 2006 by simulating the join distribution of the logarithm of per capita expenditures corrected for the effect of measurement error. Finally, the magnitude of the bias in the growth of rate of per capita expenditures by quintiles is also evaluated.Item Skin Tone and Occupational Status Among European and Arab Americans(Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-01) Coffee-Borden, BrandonOn the morning of September 11, 2001 nineteen hijackers of Saudi, Emirian, Lebanese, and Egyptian origin commandeered four American commercial jet airliners and carried out a series of terrorist attacks against the United States. Following these events a large number of Arabs, Middle Easterners, and Muslims living in the United States became victims of hate crimes, xenophobia, and violence. While discrimination against these groups in the United States is not a new occurrence, the attacks of September 11th have introduced renewed significance into the stereotypes of the Arab terrorist, Muslim terrorist, and the unfamiliar or foreign other. This context heightens the potential for discrimination to result in disparate economic outcomes for persons of Arab or Middle Eastern origin as well as Muslims. This paper explores the presence of labor market discrimination against these groups. Specifically, I examine the effect of adherence to Islam and skin color on the occupational status of self-identified Arab Americans. Using data from the Detroit Arab American Study 2003 and Detroit Area Study 2003 I find that complexion does not influence the occupational status for Arab Americans but does affect the occupational status of a comparison group of ethnically European Whites. Further, identifying as Muslim does not appear to have an effect on the occupational status of Arab Americans.Item Predicting Adult Criminal Behaviour from Juvenile Delinquency: Ex-Ante vs Ex-Post Projections of the Benefits of Early Intervention(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-01) White, BarryA significant source of the societal benefits from public investments in high-quality preschool education is the reduction in costs of juvenile delinquency and adult criminal behaviour. Almost two thirds of the total estimated benefit attributed to the infamous Perry Preschool Program consists of criminal justice system savings and averted criminal victimization costs related to the intervention’s effect on criminal behaviour (Barnett, 1996)1. Similarly, approximately 50% of the total estimated benefit attributed to the Chicago Child – Parent Center (CPC) preschool program is comprised of savings related to the intervention’s effect on juvenile delinquency and adult criminal behaviour (Reynolds, Temple, Robertson, & Mann, 2002)2. To a lesser extent, criminal justice system savings and averted victimization costs also constitute a significant proportion of the estimated benefits of prenatal intervention and early home visitation (Glazner, Bondy, Luckey, & Olds, 2004; Karoly, Greenwood, Everingham, Hoube, & Kilburn, 1998).Item The Effectivenesss of Victim Protection Measures in U.S. Human Trafficking Legislation(Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-04) Deo, SwatiHuman trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery and a grave human rights violation. I argue that the dominant narratives around problem definition and victim construction in US policy impede effective implementation of victim protection measures, those measures that protect a victim’s human rights. Ineffective victim protection is most harmful to women who are more vulnerable to exploitation than men in the process of migration. The victim protection measures, particularly T-visas and reparation, are failing due to high barriers to access. US Government policy attempts to reduce demand for sexual services by requiring family planning, HIV/AIDS, and other organizations that receive funding to have an explicit policy against prostitution. Yet the US Government and international organizations cite working with high-risk populations is one of the most effective ways to decrease the spread of the disease. The anti-prostitution policy has a detrimental effect on the fight against HIV/AIDS because it distances high-risk populations from medical and public health practitioners. The US can look to the efforts of other countries, such as Sweden and Italy, for ways to strengthen its anti-trafficking efforts.Item A Quest for Justice: A Historic Look at Comprehensive Health Care Reform Efforts in America 1945 - 2007(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-05) Hoerle, EllenIt is 2009 and health care reform is back, after a fifteen-year hiatus from the national political spotlight. A sixty-year history of various legislative initiatives has led to an expansion of the public sector of health insurance coverage, known as Medicare and Medicaid, but has continued to fall short of comprehensive reform. Comprehensive health care reform would provide universal health care insurance coverage for all Americans and include some type of system of cost controls so health care expenditures don't continue to increase at rates that threaten the budgets of other public programs such as K-12 and higher education.Item Employment Policy for People with Developmental Disabilities: Practice in Washington and Minnesota(Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-06) Myhre, StacyPeople with disabilities are one of the most under-employed populations in the United States. According to the Cornell University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics only 36.9% of people with disabilities in the United States aged 21 to 64 were employed in 2007, 42.8% lower than people without disabilities employed at a rate of 79.7% (Erickson & Lee, 2008, p. 24). People with intellectual disabilities were employed at an even lower rate, 26.8% in 2006 (Institue for Community Inclusion, 2008). Though surveys vary in how they define disability or employment (Field & Jette, 2007), survey data consistently shows employment rates significantly lower than the non-disabled population. Many studies have even shown a decline in employment rates of people with disabilities since the passage of civil rights legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 (DeLiere, 2000; Acemoglu & Angrist, 2001; Kruse & Schur, 2003; Beegle & Stock, 2003; Houtenville & Burkhauser, 2004; Moon & Shin, 2006). Some of the reasons for this decline include Fears among employers at the cost of empoying people with disabilities, fear of people with disabilities themselves of losing health care and other public benefits.Item The Impact of Art at Plymouth Youth Center Arts and Technology(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-08) Alabari, Mohamed; Harder, Ashley; Jarvis, Christopher; Mogoko, Joy; Munoz, MinervaPlymouth Youth Center Arts and Technology High School (PYC) is an emerging expansion of the contract alternative high school that the Plymouth Community Youth Center (PCYC) runs. The school administration is concerned and committed to closing the achievement gap and to creating an environment where rigor and high expectations will become the norm for both staff and students. During the most recent pilot year (2008-2009), the school has focused specifically on integrating the arts through both embedding the arts into the core curriculum and through offering specialty workshops, such as music production and theatre. The research undertaken in the course of this capstone project, conducted by Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs graduate students at the University of Minnesota, is intended to inform PYC administration on the impact of arts integration on student satisfaction and success. This project aims at evaluating the implementation of arts programming from students’ perspectives: is it working or not, how is the new arts focus impacting student motivation and learning, and is it impacting why students chose to come to PYC? In order to better understand how arts programming during the pilot year is impacting the student experience at PYC, researchers conducted a comprehensive literature review, two site visits to other arts high schools, five focus groups, a student survey, and a staff survey.Item The Estimated Impact of Privatizing Student Transportation On Costs of Minnesota School Districts(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-08) Thompson-Ferguson, OwenStudent transportation makes up a substantial portion of a typical school district’s operating budget, and sub-contracting bus service to private firms has been advanced by some as a way to reduce transportation costs and allow school districts to focus on their core missions. Previous studies that analyzed a single school-year of data have found conflicting and inconclusive evidence regarding the impact of privatization on transportation costs. This paper seeks to improve on previous studies by estimating a cost equation using data spanning six school-years. The primary result is that privatization actually acts to increase transportation costs by a substantial amount. Estimates using the data in a pooled cross section form predicted that going from fully outsourced to fully in house reduced costs by approximately 15.8 percent, while the analogous estimate using a first differenced equation was a savings of 20.7 percent.Item To Each Their Own: Elaborating Differences in State Climate Action Plans(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-11) Larson, JoelOver the last twenty years, climate change has come to the forefront of many public and policy arenas. With the new Obama administration, discussions of its extent and impacts have become an important political plank at the federal and international levels. Before the issue was elevated to the national stage, however, responses to global climate change have played out at the state level, creating a wide variety of reactions and options to mitigate its effects. This research attempts to answer several questions related to emerging climate policy at the state level. First, what differences exist between states’ climate initiatives and what policies are being employed across the US? Understanding state differences in climate policy requires a detailed understanding of potential emissions reductions, popular policies being utilized in states’ climate initiatives, and what differences exist in the costs or benefits of these programs to various states. Another major question is how will these programs impact alternatives for emerging climate policy at the state and federal level? While there have been a handful of analyses examining recent local and state climate policies (e.g. Wheeler, 2008), there has been no analysis of the details of these plans, including greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions and implementation costs or benefits. This research attempts to fill this void by creating a better understanding of the different policy options, GHG mitigation potentials, and costs of adopting climate policy. In doing so, this work can help policymakers in those jurisdictions implement alternatives appropriate to their unique contexts.Item Gay for Pay: The Role of Philanthropy in Upholding Homonormative Nonprofit Agendas in LGBT Advocacy Organizations(Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-11) Nelson, EricaA misguided notion that gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender identified individuals constituted a demographic that possessed substantial wealth emerged in the early 1990s. Since this time, scholars have conducted randomized, representative research indicating that LGBT incomes are comparable to, if not lower than their heterosexual counterparts. While most LGBT organizations, both mainstream and progressive, have critiqued the myth of affluence among their communities, organizational agendas and practices often times continue to perpetuate this stereotype. These trends in giving have contributed to a problem among LGBT organizations which some have coined “homonormativity,” a term Lisa Duggan defines as “a privatized, depoliticized gay culture anchored in domesticity and consumption” (Duggan 2003, 50).Item A Model for Emergency Preparedness and Response in the 21st Century: A Closer Look at the I-35 W Bridge Collapse and the City of Minneapolis’s Crisis Management System(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-13) Doyle, JeremiahOne of the most critical roles for local government is to have an efficient and effective emergency preparedness and response system. A successful emergency preparedness and response system plans for and protects its citizens from potential crises, both expected and unexpected. The need for an effective system could not be made more evident than on September 11th, 2001 after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Many valuable lessons were learned after that response including the need for clearer strategic planning and better communications. Six years later, the City of Minneapolis encountered an unexpected disaster when the I-35 W Bridge collapsed during rush hour on Wednesday, August 1st 2007. The emergency response to the I-35 W Bridge collapse was swift and massive with more than 140 different organizations involved in the effort. It took emergency responders less than two hours to rescue every survivor, and as I will argue throughout the paper, the crisis response to the I-35 W Bridge collapse is a model for effective emergency preparedness and response in the 21st century. There were two very important lessons learned from this analysis. First, hierarchical and network characteristics within the crisis management system proved to be one of the most significant reasons the emergency response was so effective. The crisis management system utilized during the I-35 W Bridge collapse was the Incident Command System. The Minneapolis response illustrates that a successful crisis management system requires a balance between hierarchical and network elements. The second most important lesson learned was Mayor R.T. Rybak’s decision to attend the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) training course in 2002. Thisdecision played a crucial role in the response and recovery efforts for two reasons. First, it was the initial step towards relationship building, and second, it illustrated weaknesses in the city’s emergency response, which were amended before the 2007 I-35 W Bridge collapse.Item Municipal Parking Meter Administration: Pricing, Collection, and Enforcement Options for Saint Paul, MN(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-13) Earle, SusanItem Poor, Not Poor: The Politics of Measuring Poverty(Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-05-13) Babbitt, RachelPoverty identifies people with limited resources. It is as important to measure poverty as to identify the populations that are poor and how poverty programs address the issue. The history of poverty and the political motivations behind the measurement all relate to how poverty is addressed. Poverty measurements were created in the 1960s from information collected in 1955 and have been altered only for inflation since then. There have been several alternative measurements that advocacy groups have suggested to replace the current measure. This analysis looks at the issues surrounding what poverty means and how this definition impacts measurement. Alternative measurements are also analyzed and then applied to the perspective of how alternative poverty measurements could affect TANF cash assistance. This analysis will look at how politics plays a role in the creation and selection of poverty measurements. The definition of poverty and methods of measurement are all impacted by these political values, and thus the policy process is impacted by these values.