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EXAMINING DIGITAL POLICY TOOL CHOICE AND NETWORK STRUCTURES: A DISCOURSE NETWORK ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST STEP ACT
Title
EXAMINING DIGITAL POLICY TOOL CHOICE AND NETWORK STRUCTURES: A DISCOURSE NETWORK ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST STEP ACT.
Creator
Lungu, Maria, Sapat, Alka, Florida Atlantic University, School of Public Administration, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Abstract/Description
Policy formation involves an interplay of decision-making processes that shape all policy process stages. A critical aspect of the design process is selecting policy tools to align with policy goals. The First Step Act (FSA) (2018) aims to reduce recidivism and reform sentencing through a robust policy tool portfolio. However, questions persist about how policy tools are selected. This dissertation evaluates the policy design, tool choices, and collaborative networks associated with these...
Show morePolicy formation involves an interplay of decision-making processes that shape all policy process stages. A critical aspect of the design process is selecting policy tools to align with policy goals. The First Step Act (FSA) (2018) aims to reduce recidivism and reform sentencing through a robust policy tool portfolio. However, questions persist about how policy tools are selected. This dissertation evaluates the policy design, tool choices, and collaborative networks associated with these choices. Grounded in the social construction framework and using content analysis and discourse network analysis (DNA), this dissertation examines how policymakers select policy tools to achieve functionality. Research question one explores the complementarity of the FSA’s policy tool portfolio, and results demonstrate alignment between policy goals and corresponding policy tools. Research question two examines how social constructions of target populations and political affiliations influence policy tool choices; hypothesis one reveals that liberal policymakers align with those with similar political affiliations. Results from hypothesis two indicate liberal policymakers adopt a rehabilitation orientation tool approach, viewing target populations as investments and deserving of support structures. The findings also highlight limited interaction with government agency officials, reflecting a need to incorporate more administrative voices into legislative discourse.
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Date Issued
2024
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00014466
Subject Headings
Public policy, Decision making, Public administration
Format
Document (PDF)
Democratic accountability for outsourced government services
Title
Democratic accountability for outsourced government services.
Creator
Keeler, Rebecca L., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description
Public administration scholars have raised serious concerns about loss of democratic accountability when government services are outsourced to private forprofit businesses because of the very different values and missions of the two sectors. Particular concern for democratic accountability arises when administrative discretion is delegated to governments' private sector agents. Furthermore, if contractors may adversely impact individual rights or interests, or may adversely impact vulnerable...
Show morePublic administration scholars have raised serious concerns about loss of democratic accountability when government services are outsourced to private forprofit businesses because of the very different values and missions of the two sectors. Particular concern for democratic accountability arises when administrative discretion is delegated to governments' private sector agents. Furthermore, if contractors may adversely impact individual rights or interests, or may adversely impact vulnerable populations, special democratic responsibilities arise. It is these three features of outsourcing transactions that constitute the elements of the proposed framework used in this research in order to assess need for heightened attention to democratic accountability. Some scholars argue for application of constitutional and administrative law norms to some government contractors., Public service ethics and transparency requirements found in administrative law are heavily value-laden and mission-driven. If applied to certain government contractors, they can help to bridge the sectors' mission and value differences, thus enhancing democratic accountability for the services performed by governments' private sector agents. This research offers an analytical framework for identifying features of outsourcing transactions that call for enhanced democratic accountability measures such as ethics and transparency requirements, and explores the application of ethics and transparency requirements to governments' contractors. Contracts and laws governing three Florida local government service categories were subjected to close systematic textual and legal analysis: residential trash collection, building code inspection, and inmate health care., The analysis revealed circumstances calling for greater attention to democratic accountability in that the selected outsourcing transactions delegated to contractors the authority to exercise police power, make public policy, and commit expenditures of public funds. Contracts and laws haphazardly required contractors to abide by public service ethics and transparency requirements, thus beginning to adapt the mission and value system of their private sector agents to those of government.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927311
Subject Headings
Contracting out, Privatization, Public administration, Decision making, Public contracts, Management
Format
Document (PDF)
Executive fire officers' strategic thinking capabilities and the relationship with information and communication technology
Title
Executive fire officers' strategic thinking capabilities and the relationship with information and communication technology.
Creator
Penney, Gerri., College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology
Abstract/Description
This study investigates the relationship of executive fire officers' use of strategic thinking skills and their proficiency using information and communication technology. A non-experimental quantitative study design was employed. The study consisted of 400 graduates of the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program. The use of strategic thinking skills was measured by the Strategic Thinking Questionnaire (STQv6) (Pisapia & Reyes-Guerra, 2007). The use of information and...
Show moreThis study investigates the relationship of executive fire officers' use of strategic thinking skills and their proficiency using information and communication technology. A non-experimental quantitative study design was employed. The study consisted of 400 graduates of the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program. The use of strategic thinking skills was measured by the Strategic Thinking Questionnaire (STQv6) (Pisapia & Reyes-Guerra, 2007). The use of information and communication technology tools was measured by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Fluency Questionnaire (Hilberg, 2007). The EFOs' strategic thinking capabilities of systems thinking (3.58 +/- .447) and reflecting (3.82 +/- .445) compared to previously reported samples from the literature, both empirically and theoretically. Depending upon the sample, some means were significantly higher and others were significantly lower. The strategic thinking questionnaire and the ICT fluency questionnaire were not directly correlated to one another ; however, there were some strong correlations within their subscales. ICT fluency and ICT comfort were highly correlated (r = .516), as well as systems thinking and reflecting (r = .688) at the 0.05 level. There was a significant correlation between age and ICT comfort (r = -.235), as well as between years of experience and ICT comfort (r = -.203) at the 0.05 level. Age moderated the relationship between systems thinking*reflection, and ICT comfort. Race moderated the relationship between systems thinking*reflection, and ICT education/training. This research was significant because it was the first time that Executive Fire Officers have been studied regarding their strategic thinking capabilities and their information and communications technology fluency.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2683132
Subject Headings
Strategic planning, Knowledge management, Public administration, Decision making, Management information systems, Fire departments, Management, Organizational effectiveness, Transformational leadership
Format
Document (PDF)
Administrative Discretion in Public Policy Implementation: The Case of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Title
Administrative Discretion in Public Policy Implementation: The Case of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
Creator
Angervil, Gilvert, Thai, Khi V., Florida Atlantic University, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description
This dissertation analyzes administrative discretion in public policy implementation in application of a new framework of integrative approach to administrative discretion developed from deficiencies of the citizen participation, representative bureaucracy, and private-interest groups democracy frameworks. The new framework holds that public agencies use discretion to integrate in decision making views of elected authorities, private-interest groups, public-interest groups, and other groups...
Show moreThis dissertation analyzes administrative discretion in public policy implementation in application of a new framework of integrative approach to administrative discretion developed from deficiencies of the citizen participation, representative bureaucracy, and private-interest groups democracy frameworks. The new framework holds that public agencies use discretion to integrate in decision making views of elected authorities, private-interest groups, public-interest groups, and other groups that seek to influence implementation. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy is used as the case study, and the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is the implementation setting. The dissertation answers the following question: How integrative of group views was DOE’s discretionary decision making in the implementation of NCLB? This research applies a structured content analysis method that consists of content analysis and a content analysis schedule (see Jauch, Osborn, & Martin, 1980). Using a Likert question, the dissertation developed six integration levels of DOE’s discretionary decision making from not at all integrative to extremely integrative and found that most decisions were very integrative.
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Date Issued
2017
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004808, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004808
Subject Headings
United States.--No Child Left Behind Act of 2001., Education and state--United States--History--21st century., Administrative procedure., Administrative discretion., Public administration--Decision making., Educational accountability--Law and legislation--United States.
Format
Document (PDF)
Collaborative governance and the implementation of the Ryan White CARE Act
Title
Collaborative governance and the implementation of the Ryan White CARE Act: a case study of HIV health services planning councils in two South Florida counties.
Creator
Agbodzakey, James K., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description
The complex problems of the twenty-first century cannot be effectively addressed with twentieth century top-down bureaucratic governance alone because of limited stakeholder participation in collective decision making and/or implementation. The somewhat limited stakeholder participation in the policy process, especially, that of target populations, can impact generating viable solutions to complex problems. Collaborative governance has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional...
Show moreThe complex problems of the twenty-first century cannot be effectively addressed with twentieth century top-down bureaucratic governance alone because of limited stakeholder participation in collective decision making and/or implementation. The somewhat limited stakeholder participation in the policy process, especially, that of target populations, can impact generating viable solutions to complex problems. Collaborative governance has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional management in addressing contemporary complex problems. Collaborative governance is thus a type of governance that promotes joint participation of state and non-state stakeholders in decision making and/or implementation by using agreed upon processes of engagement to collectively address problems. Such governance is especially beneficial for addressing the challenges posed by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This dissertation uses the collaborative governance concept to explicate the efforts of HIV Health Services Planning Councils in Broward County and Palm Beach County of South Florida with the purpose of accentuating how collaborative governance works in providing various categories of services to meet the needs of people with AIDS (PWAs), as part of the implementation of the Ryan White CARE Act. The study focuses on critical variables of collaborative governance such as facilitative leadership and institutional design, the collaborative process variables such as trust building, commitment to the process and shared understanding, and outputs such as allocation priorities of the Councils. This study employed mixed methods in collecting data from various relevant sources., The combined findings from surveys, interviews, observations and document reviews were essential to knowledge and understanding of collaborative governance of the respective Councils. The results revealed more similarities than differences between the Councils in their efforts towards addressing the HIV/AIDS problem. The Councils are similar in all variables of collaborative governance with few exceptions relative to facilitative leadership and institutional design. The differences were relative to membership, number of committees, amount allocated for various service categories and number of clients served. Furthermore, the Councils were slightly different in reaching consensus on subjects of deliberation. On the average, Palm Beach County's Council make decisions by consensus relatively easily when compared with the Broward County's Council. Nonetheless, both Councils are consensus-oriented and strive to make decision by consensus as evidenced by unanimous votes or simple majority votes on various subjects of deliberation. In addition, representation and participation of target populations in collaborative governance have contributed to the empowerment of those target populations. The study contributes to the literature by developing a conceptual model for HIV/AIDS collaborative governance for producing outputs to help meet needs of target populations. Also, the study contributes to collaborative governance theorizing by drawing a nexus between variables of collaborative governance and by complementing the existing non-linear perspective of collaborative process for collective problem solving. Collaborative governance involving state and non-state stakeholders thereby enhances efforts of public managers by harnessing resources to effectively manage and/or address complex problems for the benefit of society.
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Date Issued
2009
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/368614
Subject Headings
HIV infections, Government policy, AIDS (Disease), Patients, Services for, Public-private sector cooperation, Public administration, Decision making
Format
Document (PDF)