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Title: The social construction of breast and prostate cancer policy.
Creator: Martinez, Jocilyn., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Breast and prostate cancers are the most commonly diagnosed forms of cancer in women and men in the United States. The federal government has played an active role in dedicating resources toward breast and prostate cancers since the early 1990s, when policy actors successfully lobbied Congress to adopt policies that increased awareness and spending. Using theories of social construction, I argue that the key to their success was the ability of these policy actors to socially construct the...
Show moreBreast and prostate cancers are the most commonly diagnosed forms of cancer in women and men in the United States. The federal government has played an active role in dedicating resources toward breast and prostate cancers since the early 1990s, when policy actors successfully lobbied Congress to adopt policies that increased awareness and spending. Using theories of social construction, I argue that the key to their success was the ability of these policy actors to socially construct the illnesses of breast and prostate cancers into politically attractive public issues that appealed to federal policymakers. Through the use of embedded collective case study and content analysis of newspaper coverage and congressional data, this dissertation demonstrates how the social constructions of these illnesses impacted the way that breast and prostate cancers were treated as they moved through the policy process. The way in which social construction influenced the types of policies that were adopted to deal with these illnesses is also examined. Because social construction is a multidimensional and dynamic process, several different elements of this process were examined in this dissertation: the ways that policy actors attracted attention to these illnesses, how gender influenced advocacy efforts, the symbolic aspects of these illnesses, and the way the illnesses were defined on systemic and institutional agendas. Since this dissertation examines two different policy issues, the similarities and differences in breast and prostate cancer policymaking were analyzed. I found that discussing breast and prostate cancers in relation to their social constructions provides support for the importance of symbolism and non-rational policy-making processes.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927310
Subject Headings: Breast, Cancer, Patients, Services for, Prostate, Cancer, Patients, Services for, Health services accessibility, Government policy, Medical policy
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The influence of the global economic crisis on the relationship between governance and economic growth.
Creator: Albassam, Bassam A., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The current economic crisis has affected all aspects of life, which has resulted in political instability, personal financial troubles, and a growing number of business bankruptcies. While these are serious issues, simply developoing a government policy that injects an economy with money is not an appropriate means to achieve economic recovery and long-term economic development unless combined with an effective and efficient governing system. The present research studies whether the strong...
Show moreThe current economic crisis has affected all aspects of life, which has resulted in political instability, personal financial troubles, and a growing number of business bankruptcies. While these are serious issues, simply developoing a government policy that injects an economy with money is not an appropriate means to achieve economic recovery and long-term economic development unless combined with an effective and efficient governing system. The present research studies whether the strong relationship between governance and growth exists during economic crises or only during non-crisis periods. The results of the current research show that the global economic crisis has had an influence on the relationship between governance and economic growth. In addition, this study found that different levels of development affect the relationship between governance and growth differently during times of crisis. Consequently, the results of the current research show the instability in the relationship between governance and economic growth during the economic crisis ; this unsteadiness is a sign of the need for long-term strategies to promote global and national good governance practices that are not adversely affected by crises.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3360745
Subject Headings: Globalization, Economic aspects, Financial crises, History, Sustainable development, Government policy, Industrial organization (Economic theory)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Classical Dilemma and Probation Officer Training in Florida: An Ethnographic Content Analysis of Rules, Routines, Roles, Rituals, and Relationships.
Creator: Irizarry, Jose Luis, Leip, Leslie A., Florida Atlantic University, School of Public Administration, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Abstract/Description: American bureaucracies are often assigned inconsistent goals, expectations, roles, and functions (Goodsell, 2004; Lipsky, 2010), exemplified in probation by Klockars’ (1972) classical dilemma of corrections that describes a punitive-rehabilitative dichotomy. A failure to prepare bureaucrats in corrections to address the classical dilemma this results in probation officers (POs) making decisions between and among competing options that consequently generally emphasize only one of the primary...
Show moreAmerican bureaucracies are often assigned inconsistent goals, expectations, roles, and functions (Goodsell, 2004; Lipsky, 2010), exemplified in probation by Klockars’ (1972) classical dilemma of corrections that describes a punitive-rehabilitative dichotomy. A failure to prepare bureaucrats in corrections to address the classical dilemma this results in probation officers (POs) making decisions between and among competing options that consequently generally emphasize only one of the primary goals of probation (Ellsworth, 1990). This dissertation offers insight into and prompts rethinking of how corrections agencies prepare POs to address the classical dilemma. Few studies focus on how organizations educate POs to address the classical dilemma. This dissertation applies ethnographic content analysis to examine the messages communicated to correctional probation officers in the 95 lessons of the curriculum used by Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) to train new officers. To analyze the data and the meaning conveyed by the FDC I applied Saldana’s (2016) 5Rs framework of rules, routines, roles, rituals, and relationships.
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Date Issued: 2020
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013577
Subject Headings: Probation officers--Training of, Content analysis
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Significance for, and Impact Upon, Public Administration of the Correspondence Theory of Truth or Veridicality.
Creator: Slagle, Derek Ray, Miller, Hugh T., Florida Atlantic University, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The dissertation is about the significance for, and impact upon public administration of the correspondence theory of truth or veridicality, and its underlying epistemological assumptions. The underlying thesis is that, unduly influenced by the success of the natural sciences, and naive in accepting their claims to objectivity, many disciplines have sought to emulate them. There are two principle objections. Firstly, all other considerations aside, the supposedly objectivistic methodologies...
Show moreThe dissertation is about the significance for, and impact upon public administration of the correspondence theory of truth or veridicality, and its underlying epistemological assumptions. The underlying thesis is that, unduly influenced by the success of the natural sciences, and naive in accepting their claims to objectivity, many disciplines have sought to emulate them. There are two principle objections. Firstly, all other considerations aside, the supposedly objectivistic methodologies apparently applied to the explanation and prediction of the behavior of interactions of physical objects, may simply be inappropriate to certain other areas of inquiry; and more specifically objectivist methodologies are indeed inappropriate to understanding of human subjects, and their behavior, relations and interactions, and thus to public administration. The second objection is that it is of course logically impossible for any supposedly empirical discipline, as the natural sciences claim to be, to justify the belief in a supposedly objective realm of things-in-themselves existing outside, beyond, or independently of the changing, interrupted and different 'appearances' or experiences, to which an empirical science is qua empirical, necessarily restricted. Correspondence of any empirical observations or appearances (and the consequent or presupposed theoretical explanations) to an objective realm, upon which the claim to objectivity is based, is unverifiable. In light of the above it becomes evident that far from being objective, the natural sciences themselves, and the empirical observations upon which they are supposedly grounded, are subject to conceptual mediation and subjective interpretation; subjective and inter-subjective coherence replacing objective correspondence as the criterion of veridicality. Consequently it becomes clear that the presuppositions and prejudices of the observers enter, in the forms of concepts and preconceptions, into the very observations, and even more so into the theoretical constructions, or theories, of the natural, and indeed human and social sciences, and their claims to be authoritative and true. Subsequent discussion is then focused on both the coherence of individuals' experiences and understanding, and their inter-subjective coherence - which both rises from and constitutes, a "community". The role of language facilitates such coherence.
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Date Issued: 2015
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004548, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004548
Subject Headings: Discourse analysis, Information theory -- Philosophy, Philosophy of mind, Polarity (Linguistics), Public administration -- Language, Public administration -- Research -- Philosophy, Social constructivism, Visual perception
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Testing the theory of dominant institutionalized policy narratives using Florida’s “stand your ground” discourse.
Creator: Gillespie, Amanda, Miller, Hugh T., Florida Atlantic University, College of Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Narratives are a very important part of public policy negotiations and deliberations. Public policy research has shown that policy narratives are manipulated to fit the motives of the creators and enforcers of that narrative (Stone, 2002). The creators and enforcers of these narratives use symbols, language, and other techniques to ensure that the narrative survives and dominates the political and social environment by becoming the favored policy prescription (Stone, 2002; Miller, 2012; Jones...
Show moreNarratives are a very important part of public policy negotiations and deliberations. Public policy research has shown that policy narratives are manipulated to fit the motives of the creators and enforcers of that narrative (Stone, 2002). The creators and enforcers of these narratives use symbols, language, and other techniques to ensure that the narrative survives and dominates the political and social environment by becoming the favored policy prescription (Stone, 2002; Miller, 2012; Jones & McBeth, 2010; Schneider & Ingram, 1993). This study employs a qualitative content analysis to trace the genealogy of the following narratives that make up the “Stand Your Ground” discourse from 2005-2013: (1) Prosecutorial Discretion Narrative, (2) Vigilante Justice Narrative, (3) Race Narrative, and (4) Law-abiding Citizen Narrative. The “Stand Your Ground” discourse is used to test what this dissertation terms the “institutionalized policy narrative” thesis which states, Policymakers and policy advocates use policy narratives which consist of powerful symbols, politically motivated language, and ideographs to both shape and respond to public opinions by appealing to both the heart and intellect of the public. Once a winning narrative becomes institutionalized it is nearly impossible to replace that winning narrative even in the wake of a powerful new emerging narrative.
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Date Issued: 2014
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004113
Subject Headings: Self-defense (Law) -- Florida., Discrimination in criminal justice administration -- Florida., Criminal justice, Administration of -- Government policy -- Florida.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The impact and effectiveness of capital investments in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: an assessment using Keynes economic theory.
Creator: Byaruhanga, Vincent, Thai, Khi V., Florida Atlantic University, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study is to find out the effect of government spending on capital investments in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 on GDP and employment growth. This research utilized US quarterly data from 2003 QI to 2013 QII. In the first part the research used variables from the Keynes economic model and utilized two-stage least square analysis to assess the effect of government spending on GDP. The results from the regression analysis indicate that an increase...
Show moreThe purpose of this study is to find out the effect of government spending on capital investments in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 on GDP and employment growth. This research utilized US quarterly data from 2003 QI to 2013 QII. In the first part the research used variables from the Keynes economic model and utilized two-stage least square analysis to assess the effect of government spending on GDP. The results from the regression analysis indicate that an increase of one dollar in government spending increases GDP by 1.569 dollars. The researcher found that the general government spending multiplier was 1.9. The coefficient for government spending in the Recovery Act was 0.383, implying that for every one dollar in government spending, Recovery Act spending on capital investments contributed 0.383 dollars.
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Date Issued: 2014
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004183, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004183
Subject Headings: Business cycles -- United States -- History -- 21st century, Investment analysis, Keynes, John Maynard -- 1883-1946, Keynesian economics -- Mathematical models, Solow growth model, Solow, Robert M., United States -- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: An evaluation of the impact of local government institutions on business resilience in disaster.
Creator: Atkinson, Christopher L., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: This dissertation explores how local government policies affect pre-and postdisaster business resilience, in the context of institutional and neo-institutional frameworks. The study builds on past research on business vulnerability and resilience to examine government policies in the pre-disaster and response and recovery periods, and explore how government responses of varying types can contribute to different outcomes for local small businesses in the recovery period following hurricane...
Show moreThis dissertation explores how local government policies affect pre-and postdisaster business resilience, in the context of institutional and neo-institutional frameworks. The study builds on past research on business vulnerability and resilience to examine government policies in the pre-disaster and response and recovery periods, and explore how government responses of varying types can contribute to different outcomes for local small businesses in the recovery period following hurricane disasters. The project examines two cases surrounding events in 2005 and their impact on business resilience: Hurricane Katrina and its effects on the New Orleans metropolitan area; and Palm Beach County's experience with Hurricane Wilma. The dissertation involves a mixed-method approach to the subject matter. The statistical analysis portion uses multiple regression analysis of surveys of government-registered business owners in the affected areas. Business resilience is examined in light of the p redictive power of the size of the disaster; the influence of the institutional policies in public procurement, and vii economic development through small business programs; the role of institutional culture; and finally business vulnerability. The interview portion involves interviews with public officials, and coding and analysis of the field texts of these discussions, for additional information about the role that institutions play in the resilience of businesses before and after disaster. The statistical results suggest that institutional culture; size of disaster, institutional policies (particularly in procurement practices), and vulnerability can play a role in determining the resilience of a local business community., The statistical analysis is supported by interview data, which suggest that public institutions can create a culture of resilience in the business communities they serve, through support of proactive measures that make businesses less vulnerable, and creation and maintenance of supportive networks in the business community through public-private channels. Such approaches, combined with forward-thinking policy toward economic development as a general imperative, can create business communities that are more resilient in the face of disaster.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3174502
Subject Headings: Business cycles, Emergency management, Government policy, Small business, Planning, Disaster relief, Government policy
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A comparative study of the relationships between conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job among Saudi and American universities' faculty members.
Creator: Alzahrani, Mohammed., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: This study used Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II, Form C to examine the preference for conflict management styles among Saudi and American faculty members. Additionally, the study examined the relationships between conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. A random sample that consisted of (N = 300) faculty members was drawn evenly from Al-Baha University (BU) and Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Multivariate...
Show moreThis study used Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II, Form C to examine the preference for conflict management styles among Saudi and American faculty members. Additionally, the study examined the relationships between conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. A random sample that consisted of (N = 300) faculty members was drawn evenly from Al-Baha University (BU) and Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to examine whether or not there are differences between American and Saudi faculty members in their conflict management styles. Nationality was used as the factor, and the five conflict management styles (Integrating, Obliging, Dominating, Avoiding, and Compromising) were entered as dependent variables. The level of significance was 0.05. Additionally, Pearson's correlation was used to determine if a statistically significant relationship exists between the five conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Findings indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in conflict management styles between Saudi and American faculty members. Furthermore there were no significant correlations between any of the conflict management styles and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave the job. Results were discussed in light of literature review. Practical implications, limitations of the study, and recommendations were provided.
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Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3362326
Subject Headings: Conflict management, Interpersonal communication, Job satisfaction, Personnel management, Labor turnover
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Investigating Healthy Organizations: Development and Testing of a Public Organization Wellness Quotient (WQ).
Creator: McLean, Wilson C., Sementelli, Arthur, Florida Atlantic University, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: This dissertation investigates and further develops organization health theory in the context of public organizations. This is an important line of inquiry for two reasons. First, the healthy organizations literature and healthy organization theory is inchoate and lacks overall coherence (Dejoy et al., 2010), especially in public organization theory and research. As such many organization theorists have called for expansive solutions and insist this requires consideration of the collective...
Show moreThis dissertation investigates and further develops organization health theory in the context of public organizations. This is an important line of inquiry for two reasons. First, the healthy organizations literature and healthy organization theory is inchoate and lacks overall coherence (Dejoy et al., 2010), especially in public organization theory and research. As such many organization theorists have called for expansive solutions and insist this requires consideration of the collective and systemic interactive levels of analysis (Salanova et al., 2012; Schein, 2006). Second, we notice organizations now devoting considerable resources to nurturing individual and organizational health and wellness (Dale & Burrell, 2014; Parks & Steelman, 2008). Ostensibly, this is because health has been demonstrated to enhance or compromise a myriad of organizational outcomes including satisfaction, performance, sustainability, and survival (Pfeffer, 2010; Cooper, 1994). Moreover, organizational health and individual health share a vicarious and interdependent relationship (McHugh & Brotherton, 2000). In response to this “healthy exigency” and in effort to enhance the health of our public organizations, this dissertation employs an interdisciplinary lens to investigate healthy organizations at the systemic interactive level of analysis. The overarching purpose of the study is to provide theoretical contributions and empirical evidence concerning the key factors necessary for the development of healthy public organizations. To accomplish this, I assemble a holistic organizational wellness (HOW) theoretical framework. The HOW framework supports development of a Wellness Quotient (WQ) with data from the 2017 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). The WQ represents the dissertations main contribution, as currently no standardized measure of public organization health (or wellness) exists. Through a process of discovery and analysis which includes multiple iterations of confirmatory factor analyses and a regression analysis, it is found that the WQ has a significant impact on organization performance and satisfaction. The results also confirm this studies hypotheses the WQ may be useful as a proxy for future healthy public organizations research. In sum, the HOW framework and WQ not only contribute to theoretical and empirical development of healthy public organizations, respectively, but they both may serve as useful tools for public organizational health design and development.
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Date Issued: 2019
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013241
Subject Headings: Organization--Research, Wellness, Organizational effectiveness, Health
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Jobs Created? Economic Development as Language Games.
Creator: Tinsley, Steven, Patterson, Patricia M., Florida Atlantic University, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: State and local governments in the U.S. spend an estimated $80 billion annually on economic development incentives and subsidies. The economic development discourse is dominated by a jobs-centered narrative, with the concept of "jobs created" at its core. This work examines the current jobs-centered narrative and how it came to be. It identifies the practices and processes by which the current narrative persists and proliferates, analyzing its implications, which include the narrative's role...
Show moreState and local governments in the U.S. spend an estimated $80 billion annually on economic development incentives and subsidies. The economic development discourse is dominated by a jobs-centered narrative, with the concept of "jobs created" at its core. This work examines the current jobs-centered narrative and how it came to be. It identifies the practices and processes by which the current narrative persists and proliferates, analyzing its implications, which include the narrative's role in the use of corporate subsidies and incentives. This work is a critical history, identifying the point of establishment of a new equilibrium in the economic development narrative (Gaddis, 2002), utilizing ethnographic description to examine behaviors within the economic development arena. Language game dynamics (Wittgenstein, 1953) working to establish "public" meaning (Geertz, 1973) within economic developmen t are explored. Baudrillard's Phases of the Image (1994) are employed to view alternative meanings of the term "jobs created". Policy emulation (Bennett, 1991) as a means for the replication of economic development practices is examined. The work differentiates between policy emulation and convergence, arguing that emulation can and does occur in the absence of convergence, but can also act as its agent. Convergence was established as a possible end result of emulation, and necessary elements such as disparate starting policy positions must first be present in order for convergence to occur. The analysis reveals that the current jobs-centered narrative in economic development is a result of a complex language game. The economic development language game is a multi-faceted game with well-established roots and mechanisms for self-preservation and perpetuation. Emanating from communities' sense and fear of loss, relying on an unchallenged library of professional jargon which the public only vaguely understands, and ever reinforcing itself through the use of state and international industry organizations, the game is deeply entrenched in the field of economic development. The study concludes with recommendations for mitigation of the effects of the game. These findings have implications for how economic development aims and successes are measured and communicated, how governments expend resources in economic development and how the industry regulates its own activities.
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Date Issued: 2015
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004552, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004552
Subject Headings: Economic development -- United States, Economics -- Methodology, Entrepreneurship -- United States, Industrial promotion -- United States, United States -- Economic conditions -- 21st century
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: School choice and Florida’s McKay scholarship program for students with disabilities: an analysis of parental satisfaction.
Creator: Black, David B., Sapat, Alka K., Florida Atlantic University, College of Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this dissertation was to add to the literature on the school choice debate and educational voucher programs through an analysis of Florida’s John M. McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities. This dissertation looked at the major aspects of school choice theory, parental satisfaction, and reasoning for choice. A theoretical framework for analyzing school choice programs was put forth in this dissertation through an analysis of the over-arching dynamical elements...
Show moreThe purpose of this dissertation was to add to the literature on the school choice debate and educational voucher programs through an analysis of Florida’s John M. McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities. This dissertation looked at the major aspects of school choice theory, parental satisfaction, and reasoning for choice. A theoretical framework for analyzing school choice programs was put forth in this dissertation through an analysis of the over-arching dynamical elements that have shaped the administrative and political arguments for and against these programs. A comprehensive review of the literature on school choice comprised a substantial part of this study due to the need for citizens to better comprehend the origins and evolution of school choice planning and programming.
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Date Issued: 2015
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004428, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004428
Subject Headings: Educational equalization -- Florida, Educational vouchers -- Florida, John M. McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities, Parents of students with disabilities, School choice -- Florida, Special education -- Parent participation -- Florida, Students with disabilities -- Education -- Florida
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Reframing our understanding of nonprofit regulation through the use of the institutional analysis and development framework.
Creator: Vienne, Denise R., Nyhan, Ronald C., Florida Atlantic University, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Regulation of the nonprofit sector is a subject of significant debate in the academic and professional literature. The debate raises questions about how to regulate the sector in a manner that addresses accountability while preserving the sector’s unique role in society. Central to the debate is the role of self-regulation. The nonprofit sector is recognized and defended as a distinct third sector in society. Cultural norms and values differentiate the purpose of the sector from the...
Show moreRegulation of the nonprofit sector is a subject of significant debate in the academic and professional literature. The debate raises questions about how to regulate the sector in a manner that addresses accountability while preserving the sector’s unique role in society. Central to the debate is the role of self-regulation. The nonprofit sector is recognized and defended as a distinct third sector in society. Cultural norms and values differentiate the purpose of the sector from the governmental and commercial realms. The legal regime secures rights, establishes organizational structures, and provides tax benefits that enable, reinforce, and protect participation in nonprofit activities. Nevertheless, government regulation is thought to be antithetical to sector autonomy, as well as an obstacle to flexibility and innovation. Selfregulation protects the sector’s political independence and its distinctiveness through the cultivation of shared norms, standards, and processes for ethical practices. Although self regulation is considered to be consistent with the autonomous nature of the sector, it is also criticized as a weaker form of regulation. The ability to address regulatory issues expressed in the broader debate is limited by how we frame nonprofit regulation. The problem with advancing our understanding of self-regulation has to do with how we conceptualize nonprofit regulation. Government and self-regulation are conceptualized and studied as distinct options for regulating the sector. Missing in the nonprofit scholarship is a theoretical framework capable of reframing nonprofit regulation as a system of governance that depends on self-regulation. This represents a glaring gap in the research. Neglecting the institutional context that explains the structure and functioning of the nonprofit sector has led to an oversimplification of nonprofit governance. To study the effects of self-regulation on the functioning of the sector, I argue that we must first frame what is relevant about how the nonprofit sector is governed. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework outlines a systematic approach for analyzing institutions that govern collective endeavors. The objective of this dissertation is to introduce the IAD as an approach for examining self-regulation not as an alternative to government regulation but as an important part of nonprofit governance.
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Date Issued: 2014
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004231, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004231
Subject Headings: Corporate governence, Non governmental organizations -- Management, Nonprofit organizations -- Finance -- Moral and ethical aspects, Nonprofit organizations -- Government policy, Nonprofit organizations -- Management, Public private sector cooperation
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Public asset management: empirical evidence from the state governments in the United States.
Creator: Lu, Yaotai, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Public asset management is a critical component of the financial integrity of government. However, in practice, problems exist in the field of public asset management at different levels of government in the United States. This research explores the management of public fixed assets owned, controlled and used by state governments in America. It attempts to answer two major questions: (1) What are the characteristics of a modern public asset management system based on the available literature?...
Show morePublic asset management is a critical component of the financial integrity of government. However, in practice, problems exist in the field of public asset management at different levels of government in the United States. This research explores the management of public fixed assets owned, controlled and used by state governments in America. It attempts to answer two major questions: (1) What are the characteristics of a modern public asset management system based on the available literature? and (2) How do public asset management practices at the U.S. state government compare to the system standard described in the first question? Based on systems theory and current research on public asset management and public procurement systems, this research develops an intellectual framework of a public fixed asset management system. This system is composed of six interdependent cornerstones, including legal and regulatory requirements, organization structure, management process throughout th e life cycle of assets, human capital strategies, information and technology resources, and monitoring, integrity, and transparency. Each cornerstone consists of a number of components that reveal the underlying working principles of the relevant cornerstone and together determine the standards of fixed asset management in the relevant area. Survey results demonstrate that state governments fundamentally satisfy the standards identified in the fixed asset management system. However, certain problems obviously exist in the area of each cornerstone. In addition, survey results reveal that the six cornerstones of fixed asset management system are interrelated with one another. In most states, when a management element in the area of one cornerstone is widely implemented, the relevant management elements in areas of other cornerstones are employed and vice versa., A major contribution of this research is the development of a fixed asset management system. State and federal governments may compare their fixed asset management to the standards identified in this system. Local governments may find appropriate management components to adapt to their characteristics from this system.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3171677
Subject Headings: Finance, Public, Infrastructure (Economics), Finance, Organizational behavior, Government policy
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Public-private partnerships and questions in public procurement.
Creator: Williams, Adam, Miller, Hugh T., Florida Atlantic University, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: This study explores the connections of public procurement official perceptions of public-private partnerships and their contracting decisions for public infrastructure projects. Detailed discussion of previous scholarship and its focus on policymaking and project evaluation of public-private partnerships leaves a gap in the public policy process – implementation. Procurement officials are presented in the role of policy implementers rather than agents in a principalagent approach. This...
Show moreThis study explores the connections of public procurement official perceptions of public-private partnerships and their contracting decisions for public infrastructure projects. Detailed discussion of previous scholarship and its focus on policymaking and project evaluation of public-private partnerships leaves a gap in the public policy process – implementation. Procurement officials are presented in the role of policy implementers rather than agents in a principalagent approach. This attempts to address a shortcoming of the description that these officials do nothing more than purchase. Arguments are put forth that these officials are given additional levels of discretion when faced with contracting decisions. Specifically, procurement officials observe that public-private partnerships provide sets of project consequences. A survey instrument is designed to explore the differences in perceptions that procurement officials have with respect to public-private partnerships and traditional contracting out. Survey failures result in findings only being able to attempt a more general view of public-private partnerships. Results allow perceptions to be placed in a decision-making model based on a project phase approach that develops on the assumption that tasks contracted to private vendors produce project consequences. Furthermore, analysis of significant consequence perceptions indicate that those perceptions do not provide a rationale for a procurement official’s decision-making on whether to contract using a public-private partnership for public infrastructure projects. Independent sample t-tests, controlled correlations, multiple ANOVA and linear regression analyses show that perceptions of consequences, the perceptions of differences of those consequences across project phases, relationships of consequences to perceptions of efficiency and effectiveness proxies and a bounded rationalitybased model of decision-making for procurement officials are all inconclusive. Discussion focuses on the development of consequences and phases as defining and clarifying public-private partnerships. Further discussions are presented for procurement officials with respect to their decision-making and possible role as policy implementers. Conclusions fail to uncover any inferential results. The research finds its primary contribution in the conceptual discourse of public procurement official roles and public-private partnership definitions.
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Date Issued: 2014
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004236, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004236
Subject Headings: Infrastructure (Economics) -- Finance, Public private sector cooperation -- Finance, Public private sector cooperation, Public works -- Finance, Risk management
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Professional Public Administration: A Synthesis of an Inchoate Concept.
Creator: Heilman, Joseph Christian, Sementelli, Arthur J., Florida Atlantic University, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The term profession is found throughout the scholarly literature; despite frequent use of the term, there exists little or no means of providing a common conception of the term. Consequently, calls for increasing professionalization of public administration appear to be premature. Therefore, this dissertation utilizes inductive research to generate theory, which synthesizes the inchoate concept of the professional public administrator. The motivation to pursue this line of inquiry stems from...
Show moreThe term profession is found throughout the scholarly literature; despite frequent use of the term, there exists little or no means of providing a common conception of the term. Consequently, calls for increasing professionalization of public administration appear to be premature. Therefore, this dissertation utilizes inductive research to generate theory, which synthesizes the inchoate concept of the professional public administrator. The motivation to pursue this line of inquiry stems from a personal need to weigh in on the perennial debate about what skills, knowledge, and information should be communicated to future generations of public administration thinkers and practitioners. To that end, this research will provide a theoretical framework grounded in the literature, which federates the term professional and the professional concept in such a way that purposeful debates can be had. It is, as will be shown, an attempt to link understanding and interpretation.
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Date Issued: 2016
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004734, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004734
Subject Headings: Public administration--Management., Public administration--Moral and ethical aspects., Grounded theory., Motivation (Psychology)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Rethinking Public Service Motivation: The role of communal narcissism.
Creator: Fennimore, Anne K., Sementelli, Arthur J., Florida Atlantic University, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Public service motivation (PSM) encompasses self-sacrifice (SS), compassion (COM), commitment to public values (CPV), and attraction to public participation (APP) as part of a public service ethic. The public and non-profit sectors are purported to consist of individuals possessing other-directed, communal values, rather than self-directed, agentic values characterizing private sector organizations. However, PSM’s positive, or prosocial bias often discounts self-interested motives and mixed...
Show morePublic service motivation (PSM) encompasses self-sacrifice (SS), compassion (COM), commitment to public values (CPV), and attraction to public participation (APP) as part of a public service ethic. The public and non-profit sectors are purported to consist of individuals possessing other-directed, communal values, rather than self-directed, agentic values characterizing private sector organizations. However, PSM’s positive, or prosocial bias often discounts self-interested motives and mixed motives. Garnering insights from personality psychology may further the development of PSM from multidisciplinary angles. Malevolent personalities in organizations have been evidenced by decades of research in the private sector. Yet, similar efforts delineating malevolent types in public and non-profit organizations remain lacking. While a battery of personality scales access general personality disorders, none has been administered across sectors to determine if disordered individuals are more likely to be found employed in a particular sector. The communal narcissism scale is distinct from other malevolent scales because it measures communal traits as a function of domain specificity. Unlike the agentic version of narcissism, in which self-aggrandizement is almost immediately apparent to others, in communal narcissism, the self-aggrandizement component is hidden by a ‘saint-type bias’ and self-proclaimed other-orientation. Some communal narcissism traits may mimic dimensions of the PSM scale. If a malevolent personality can mimic public service motivation, then this research would be among the first to illustrate a dark side of PSM, as recently suggested by PSM scholars. This research found that CNI was, indeed, associated with PSM, particularly the self-sacrifice, public participation, and compassion dimensions. Additionally, PSM was positively associated with the non-profit sector and negatively associated with the private sector. CNI, in contrast, was indirectly influenced by sector. Specifically, CNI was positively associated with non-profit sector and negatively associated with the private sector. An empirical analysis of two studies is presented and future research directions are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2018
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013061
Subject Headings: Public service., Narcissism., Personality--Research.
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Local Government Decisions in a Time of Economic Decline: A Study of County Government Budget Policy During the Great Recession.
Creator: Wilson, Darrin Hugh, McCue, Clifford P., Florida Atlantic University, College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: This dissertation examined the literature of cutback management in the context of the Great Recession. Specifically, it studied the relationship between cutback management policies used by county governments during the recession and revenue changes. The purpose of this dissertation was to test whether or not the percent change in revenue had an impact on the probability that cutback management policies were used in the recession. According to the cutback management literature developed in the...
Show moreThis dissertation examined the literature of cutback management in the context of the Great Recession. Specifically, it studied the relationship between cutback management policies used by county governments during the recession and revenue changes. The purpose of this dissertation was to test whether or not the percent change in revenue had an impact on the probability that cutback management policies were used in the recession. According to the cutback management literature developed in the 1970s and 1980s, there should be a relationship. The theoretical framework used for this study was the rational-approach framework, which proposes that every expenditure reducing and revenue increasing policy is enacted based on the percent decrease in revenue the government faces. This suggests that the cutback management policies are a proportional response to revenue decline. The framework was operationalized by using a binary logistic regression that used policy en actment as the dependent variable and the percent change in revenue as the independent variable. Eighty-six counties were sampled and 7 years of each county's budget book were examined for policies and financial data. The research found that eleven expenditure policies and three revenue policies had a statistically significant relationship with the percent change in revenues. This resulted in the conclusion that the framework and, therefore, the cutback management literature were useful in explaining primarily expenditure policies.
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Date Issued: 2015
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004556, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004556
Subject Headings: Financial crises -- United States -- 21st century, Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009, Infrastructure (Economics) -- United States -- 21st century, Local budgets -- United States, Municipal budgets -- United States, United States -- Economic conditions -- 2009-
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: How do home and community based services change long-term care?.
Creator: Perez, Enrique M., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: The relationship between Public Administration and the people is one that requires legitimacy and compromise in order to solve complex problems. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families during the last fifty years have put forth an agenda that calls for the advancement of rights for the disabled and more integration into the larger society. In this arena, government, with post civil rights legislation like the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act ...
Show moreThe relationship between Public Administration and the people is one that requires legitimacy and compromise in order to solve complex problems. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families during the last fifty years have put forth an agenda that calls for the advancement of rights for the disabled and more integration into the larger society. In this arena, government, with post civil rights legislation like the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), plays a huge role in promoting social awareness and bringing down barriers of stigmatization, understanding, and access. This struggle is fought on many fronts. A significant part of the effort focuses on moving the locus of long-term care of the disabled, including the IDD population, from an institutional setting to the least restrictive setting that will foster social ties and integration. Since the early 1980s as part of this effort to deinstitutionalize the disabled, legislation at both the federal and state level has supported and incentivized the creation of Home and Community Based Service (HCBS) programs. HCBS waivers, as they are typically called, are also promoted as a means of containing government expenditures for long-term care. However, the effectiveness of these waivers is poorly understood. The critical questions being - Do HCBS waivers promote and create an environment that increases awareness of the needs of IDD individuals? Do the programs help reduce stigmatization, promote understanding, and increase access to services and activities that foster social interaction? Or, do HCBS waivers create a new "iron cage" where the intellectually or developmentally disabled are once again relegated to existing as second class citizens? In this research, programs are mapped and then evaluated to paint a better picture of how HCBS waivers change long-term care., This research combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to triangulate on these phenoamea as a means to investigate when and how HCBS waiver programs facilitate, promote, or stifle the social integration of those with IDD. How does social integration manifest itself in the quality long-term care of those who often cannot take care of themselves?
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3318667
Subject Headings: Long-term care of the sick, Medical care, Quality control, Sociology of disabiltiy, Heath care rationing, Outcome assessment (Medical care), Community health services
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Human Trafficking as A Brand Within the Framework of Human Rights: Case Studies in the U.S.
Creator: Mai, Tam, Sementelli, Arthur J., Florida Atlantic University, College of Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: Recent concern in the United States about human trafficking has been directed primarily on the foreign victims that are brought into the United States rather than on U.S. citizenship who become involved. However, the topic has broadened and has significant impact on the daily lives of U.S citizens. Taking a human rights perspective, this dissertation explores how human trafficking has been used as a “brand” to achieve political and/or economic objectives. Human trafficking has taken away the...
Show moreRecent concern in the United States about human trafficking has been directed primarily on the foreign victims that are brought into the United States rather than on U.S. citizenship who become involved. However, the topic has broadened and has significant impact on the daily lives of U.S citizens. Taking a human rights perspective, this dissertation explores how human trafficking has been used as a “brand” to achieve political and/or economic objectives. Human trafficking has taken away the human rights for individuals and threatens their security. This dissertation is grounded in Critical Theory and uses narrative analysis as a methodological framework. Using 99 public documents from Global Report on Trafficking in Persons by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, International Labor Organization, and Office for Victims of Crime and other Departments of the U.S working on human trafficking issues, with the support of Nvivo software, the dissertation insists that human trafficking violates human rights, has no capacity to support human emancipation, and causes human beings to be treated as animals or objects or commodified a brand. Even though a brand is a mark and logo in economic development and refers to objects, not human beings. Human development is the objective that everyone wants to achieve. Regardless of development, the welfare of all human beings must be the chief concern; every effort to halt all human emancipation must be initiated immediately.
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Date Issued: 2016
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004718, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004718
Subject Headings: Foreign workers -- Abuse of -- United States -- Case studies, Human rights -- United States, Human trafficking -- United States -- Case studies, Human trafficking victims -- United States -- Case studies, Victims of violent crimes
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Mimetic, coercive, and normative influences in institutionalization of organizational practices: the case of distance learning in higher education.
Creator: Caravella, Kristi D., College for Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description: In this study, DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) institutional model of isomorphic change is hypothesized to explain the changes witnessed in educational organizations with regard to the acceptance, implementation and institutionalization of distance learning. In order to show the power of institutional theory in explaining organizational change over time, a comparative qualitative case study methodology is utilized. Document analysis and interviews are used to explore the utility of this...
Show moreIn this study, DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) institutional model of isomorphic change is hypothesized to explain the changes witnessed in educational organizations with regard to the acceptance, implementation and institutionalization of distance learning. In order to show the power of institutional theory in explaining organizational change over time, a comparative qualitative case study methodology is utilized. Document analysis and interviews are used to explore the utility of this isomorphic change model. Each research question seeks to explore different influences of institutional isomorphism, coercive, normative, and mimetic. DiMaggio and Powell (1983) suggest organizations converge on similar practices and behaviors and appear similar to like organizations over time. The appearance of change toward homogeneity is explored through the isomorphic change theory which indentifies three forces, coercive, normative and mimetic, influential in determining how adopted behaviors and pr actices become isomorphically accepted by the organizational field. Coercive isomorphism stems from political influence and organizational legitimacy, often conveyed through laws, regulations, and accreditation processes (or outside agency requirements); normative isomorphism is associated with professional values; and mimetic isomorphism is copying or mimicking behaviors that is a result of organizational response to uncertainty. By examining the organizational field for the presence of these forces and measuring the extent of these forces at various points in time one is able to explain convergence on regularized practices and institutionalized behaviors, or how an organizational field becomes institutionalized, around a particular idea or practice., The coercive, mimetic, and normative forces present in the field dictate institutionalization and theoretically produce an environment that induces organizational conformity, or homogeneity, through pressure to appear legitimate, competition, mandates associated with funding, and influential professional group and network values.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3169915
Subject Headings: Distance education, Influence of technological innovations on, Education, Political aspects, Organizational behavior, Diffusion of innovations
Format: Document (PDF)

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