Search results

Title: Professionalism of Florida Senior Management Service and Selected Exempt Service Administrators: Managerial, Political, and Ethical Roles.
Creator: Heil, David Carlton, Berry, Frances S., Barrilleaux, Charles J., Klay, William Earle, Bowman, James S., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The policy of the State of Florida recognizes high-level public administration as a profession and expects administrators to be competent and to practice managerial, political, and ethical roles. Conceptual frameworks of high-level administrators' credentials (knowledge and skills) and behaviors (managerial, political, and ethical roles) in public administration literature are reviewed. Operational definitions are developed for the concepts of professional credentials, managerial roles,...
Show moreThe policy of the State of Florida recognizes high-level public administration as a profession and expects administrators to be competent and to practice managerial, political, and ethical roles. Conceptual frameworks of high-level administrators' credentials (knowledge and skills) and behaviors (managerial, political, and ethical roles) in public administration literature are reviewed. Operational definitions are developed for the concepts of professional credentials, managerial roles, political roles, and ethical roles. A model is presented which views a professional public administrator from two different perspectives: (1) knowledge and skills and (2) practices and views of managerial, political, and ethical roles. Hypotheses are developed for specific research questions. Survey instruments were developed and sent via the World Wide Web to State of Florida high-level agency administrators. The response rate was 32.9 percent. Overall, the sample was representative of the population, except that female respondents were under represented. Results indicate that Florida high-level administrators surveyed exhibit high professional credentials based on experience, education, training, political acuity, and public service attitudes. Results indicate that these administrators exhibit and place high importance on many of the expected behaviors or roles. Results fail to show the anticipated positive association between measures of professional credentials and professional behaviors. Results indicate little professional credentials and professional behavior differences in those administrators entering these high-level positions voluntarily (hired into the position) compared to those entering involuntarily (position was converted from the career service system). Overall, Florida high-level administrators exhibit the high level of professional competence and professional behaviors described in the public administration literature and prescribed in Florida public policies. Strengths and weaknesses of these administrators are discussed. Theoretical, policy, and practical implications of the findings are discussed as well as are the limitations and directions for future research.
Show less
Date Issued: 2003
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4151
Format: Thesis

Title: Constitutional Change in Local Governance: An Exploration of Institutional Entrepreneurs, Procedural Safeguards, and Selective Incentives.
Creator: Johnson, Linda S., Feiock, Richard C., Barrilleaux, Charles, Brower, Ralph, Berry, Fran, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This dissertation extends research in local governance constitutional change in a new direction and integrates several models of institutions to explain patterns of municipal charter change. This approach presents a new understanding of institutions, actors, and change in the municipal charter. One of the most important implications of this study is that multiple perspectives on the dynamics of local governance can be incorporated into a testable theory. This interconnection provides a...
Show moreThis dissertation extends research in local governance constitutional change in a new direction and integrates several models of institutions to explain patterns of municipal charter change. This approach presents a new understanding of institutions, actors, and change in the municipal charter. One of the most important implications of this study is that multiple perspectives on the dynamics of local governance can be incorporated into a testable theory. This interconnection provides a comprehensive and dynamic perspective of the competition for governance rules. This study differs from other studies of local constitutional change in five ways. First, the study concentrates on change in the most embedded level of the local institution, the local constitution. Second, it builds on Maser's (1998) transaction resource theory of local constitutional change by incorporating selective incentives for maintenance or change and including rejected proposed rules. Third, the study views all forms of charter change as constitutional change which allows the theory to include both charter revision and the more radical city-county consolidation as a continuum of local constitutional change. Fourth, the study integrates entrepreneurs and demanders of the status quo into the theory of competition for governance rules and procedural safeguards, extending Ostrom's Institutional Analysis Framework (1990). Finally, it moves entrepreneur studies to the constitutional level and argued that actors try to induce change in order to lock their preferences into the system. Two methods are used to provide empirical evidence of maintenance or change in the system. The first method, case studies allow in-depth explorations of complex entities for evidence of dynamics, but can be difficult in comparing multiple complex systems. The second method, Qualitative Comparative Analysis, a Boolean method, integrates complex multiple characteristics of system complexity with in-depth characteristics of diverse entities to explore the phenomenon. The central findings of the study focus on the choice of rules and the actors. In proposed consolidation charters, the electoral system rules that provide a safeguard for representation will be supported by minorities. Property owners, farmers, and business groups support rules that reduce the costs of government and protect their access to the governance structure.
Show less
Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3557
Format: Thesis

Title: Proenvironmental Behavior in Public Organizations: Empirical Evidence from Florida City Governments.
Creator: Azhar, Aisha, Yang, Kaifeng, Ferris, Gerald, Brower, Ralph, Bowman, James, Feiock, Richard, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Pro-environmental behavior (PEB) has received considerable attention in business and other social sciences disciplines. However, no study has examined the link between workplace and non-workplace PEB; almost no research study has focused on public employees' workplace PEB; and little is known as to how salient public organizational characteristics influence public employees' PEB. Building upon the existing theories in other disciplines, this dissertation examines the extent to which PEB...
Show morePro-environmental behavior (PEB) has received considerable attention in business and other social sciences disciplines. However, no study has examined the link between workplace and non-workplace PEB; almost no research study has focused on public employees' workplace PEB; and little is known as to how salient public organizational characteristics influence public employees' PEB. Building upon the existing theories in other disciplines, this dissertation examines the extent to which PEB exists in public organizations, and investigates how PEB is influenced by several salient characteristics of public organizations, i.e. public service motivation (PSM) and civic participation categorized as civic engagement and cognitive engagement. Data were collected by means of self-report surveys from public employees of two city governments in Florida-- Tallahassee and Lakeland. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple and logistic regression analyses were employed to test the proposed model. The findings indicate that public service motivation positively influences non-workplace PEBs. Civic engagement negatively and cognitive engagement positively influences the workplace and non-workplace PEB. The barriers as moderator significantly influences the positive relationship of PSM and workplace and non-workplace PEB, the negative relationship of civic engagement and workplace PEB and positive relationship of cognitive engagement with workplace PEB. Among organizational factors, green culture and transformational leadership support workplace and non-workplace PEBs. The findings demonstrate that public organizational characteristics potentially influence employee environmental orientations not only at workplace but also in non-workplace settings.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4700
Format: Thesis

Title: Network Analysis of Workforce Development Programs.
Creator: Choi, Sang Ok, Brower, Ralph S., Crew, Robert E., Berry, Frances S., Guy, Mary E., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Network structure is one explanatory variable to explain network performance, but its effect may be uncertain. Much research, however, has not attempted to combine network structures with other characteristics of networks – e.g., network social capital, network management, or network learning – that may explain network performance. The consideration of other network characteristics as well as the combination of network structure with other factors cannot be ignored. This study proposed four...
Show moreNetwork structure is one explanatory variable to explain network performance, but its effect may be uncertain. Much research, however, has not attempted to combine network structures with other characteristics of networks – e.g., network social capital, network management, or network learning – that may explain network performance. The consideration of other network characteristics as well as the combination of network structure with other factors cannot be ignored. This study proposed four network characteristics and presented an integrated model of network performance. The model included unique aspects (structure, content, process, and management) of networks from four network perspectives. This study first examined simple relationships between each characteristic and network performance, and then extended intermediated effects of each characteristic on others. This study used 136 workforce development networks for this analysis with a social network analysis program (UCINET 6.0) and the LISREL 8.0 program. Fifteen of the twenty-five hypotheses proposed were supported. Key research findings are as follows: more diverse service networks or less centralized networks are more likely to lead to better network performance; there is a positive relationship between network social capital and network performance; service provider network learning had a positive effect on network performance; there is a positive relationship between network management and network performance; a more adaptive service provider network is more likely to have more effective network management network and to influence employer network learning processes.. This study also provided managerial implications for workforce development managers that relatively equal distributed networks (loose/decentralized network) and more cohesive networks may be one of strategic choices for maintaining workforce development program stability or increasing the network capacity. From the results of the comprehensive data analysis and procedures, this study concludes that in successful workforce development programs, a more thorough understanding of network characteristics of workforce development programs should be made.
Show less
Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3762
Format: Thesis

Title: Policy Networks, Environmental Impacts and Economic Consequences of Clean Energy in the U.S: A National, State and Local Investigation.
Creator: Yi, Hongtao, Feiock, Richard C., Scholz, John T., Berry, Frances S., Yang, Kaifeng, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This dissertation contributes to the public policy literature by examining energy policy in the U.S. In a three paper format, this dissertation investigates different dimensions of energy policy. First, it covers both policy process and policy analysis. Second, it covers different levels of governance in the U.S. All three levels of governance, national, state and local levels, are covered in this study. Third, it examines different aspects of energy policy, including network interactions...
Show moreThis dissertation contributes to the public policy literature by examining energy policy in the U.S. In a three paper format, this dissertation investigates different dimensions of energy policy. First, it covers both policy process and policy analysis. Second, it covers different levels of governance in the U.S. All three levels of governance, national, state and local levels, are covered in this study. Third, it examines different aspects of energy policy, including network interactions among policy actors, environmental impacts and growth of green jobs. In the first paper, I investigate the formation of networks among the clean energy NGOs in the U.S. With network data collected on the hyperlinks from the websites of these NGOs, testable hypotheses are proposed to test the driving mechanisms for the energy policy networks in the U.S. In the second paper, I evaluate the effectiveness of these policy tools in reducing carbon emissions in electric power sector. With a panel data set for 48 continental states from 1990 to 2008, three fixed-effect panel regressions are estimated to test the impacts of these policy tools on total carbon emissions, electricity generation and carbon intensity. In the third paper, I examine the short-term direct employment effects of state and local clean energy and climate policies in U.S. metropolitan areas (MSAs) in year 2006.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-5291
Format: Thesis

Title: Policy Tool Bundling: Predicting the Selection of Policy Instruments Using Bayesian Multivariate Probit Analysis.
Creator: Kassekert, Anthony J., Feiock, Richard, Zuehlke, Tom, Yang, Kaifeng, Berry, Frances Stokes, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The choice of economic development incentives involves a complex system of political and economic considerations. Policy tools theory has largely focused on the individual characteristics of each particular tool and has not considered interactions among instruments or explained why multiple tools are used simultaneously in practice. Extant research has overlooked interdependence among policies and the fact that policies may serve as substitutes or compliments to each other. Building on...
Show moreThe choice of economic development incentives involves a complex system of political and economic considerations. Policy tools theory has largely focused on the individual characteristics of each particular tool and has not considered interactions among instruments or explained why multiple tools are used simultaneously in practice. Extant research has overlooked interdependence among policies and the fact that policies may serve as substitutes or compliments to each other. Building on theories of policy tools and policy diffusion, a theory of policy bundling is developed in this dissertation to explain why multiple tools are used in conjunction with one another to solve public problems. A diverse set of motivations and strategies are formed to explicate why bundling occur. The theory of policy tool bundling is empirically tested using panel data from the state of Georgia. The presence of policy tool bundling is assessed by modeling four economic incentives simultaneously with a multivariate probit model estimated using Bayesian methods. The results demonstrate that bundling is occurring between free or reduced cost land and expedited permitting and also between free or reduced cost land and industrial development bonds. No evidence of bundling was found between other incentives indicating that while policy bundling does occur in economic development, many of the observed relationships between policies are not strategic.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3323
Format: Thesis

Title: Policy Adoption by State Governments: An Event History Analysis of Factors Influencing States to Enact Inpatient Health Care Transparency Laws.
Creator: Eaton, Lisa Jean, Berry, Frances Stokes, Weissert, Carol, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Lee, Keon-Hyung, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This dissertation provides an analysis and evaluation of factors influencing states to enact inpatient health care transparency laws between 1971 and 2006 inclusive, using event history analysis. The primary research question investigates "What factors influence a state legislature to enact a health care transparency law?" To narrow the scope of study, I focus on factors influencing states to enact health care transparency laws to collect and publicly report inpatient data. The Unified Model...
Show moreThis dissertation provides an analysis and evaluation of factors influencing states to enact inpatient health care transparency laws between 1971 and 2006 inclusive, using event history analysis. The primary research question investigates "What factors influence a state legislature to enact a health care transparency law?" To narrow the scope of study, I focus on factors influencing states to enact health care transparency laws to collect and publicly report inpatient data. The Unified Model of State Policy Innovation, developed by F.S. Berry and W.D. Berry (1990, 1999), provides the framework for the study hypotheses and the analysis of inpatient health care transparency law enactments by states. The Unified Model of State Policy Innovation posits a unified explanation for state policy adoptions. The model unifies the internal determinants and regional diffusion approaches of analysis for state policy adoption. This study tests eight hypotheses using event history analysis (EHA). EHA is an analytical technique that allows for the testing of a state government innovation theory that incorporates internal determinants and regional influences on state policy adoption. Although there are numerous methods to conduct event history analysis, this study uses the Cox proportional hazards model (also known as Cox regression). Cox regression is a popular method for studying time-to-event data for policy adoption and diffusion studies. This study's quantitative analysis provides support for legislative ideology and unified party control of state government acting as factors influencing inpatient health care transparency law enactments by states. Additionally, the health care crisis and neighbors variables were statistically significant, but in an opposite direction than predicted. The findings of this research suggest that state adopters of an inpatient health care transparency law are more likely to enact an inpatient health care transparency law when the state government is increasing in liberalism and when unified political party control of the governor and the governorship of both houses of the state legislature is increasing. To generate new insights into the enactment of inpatient health care transparency laws, I conduct a case study of a national health care data professional association using several techniques, including telephone interviews. The qualitative analysis provides support for professional associations and policy champions as diffusion agents for inpatient health care transparency law enactments by states. This dissertation supports variables traditionally used in policy adoption research including legislative ideology and unified political party control in state government. However, it will be interesting to see whether internal determinants such as professional associations gain traction over the traditional regional diffusion influences such as states sharing borders as factors influencing state policy adoption. Meanwhile, as evidenced in this study, there continues to be support for a model incorporating both internal and regional influences to explain policy adoption by states. The theory of policy innovation and diffusion to predict the factors influencing the spread of policies and the use of Berry & Berry's (1990, 1999) Unified Model of State Policy Innovation prosper as their applicability to numerous public policy areas, including health care, are continually demonstrated. Similarly, event history analysis and specifically the Cox regression method continue to gain support as their value as analytical methods and appropriateness for use in public policy studies is repeatedly demonstrated. The outlook for the future of the health care transparency movement looks promising. The health care transparency movement promotes improved access to information, patient empowerment, improved patient safety and quality of care, improved provider accountability, and lower health care costs. This movement is not a fad, but rather a permanent change being implemented in all health care settings across the United States. Improved health through reliable, accessible data and data-supported decisions is increasingly becoming the norm and less an idealistic scenario to be realized in the distant future.
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-7364
Format: Thesis

Title: Policy Decision Making for Transportation Infrastructure: The Cases of High Speed Rails in the U.S.
Creator: Lee, Heejae, Eger, Robert J., Holcombe, Randall G., Berry, Frances S., Lee, KeonHyung, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This dissertation is about policy decision making in transportation infrastructure. With this dissertation an attempt is made to understand factors which affect policy decisions in state governments or within the public sector. The dissertation analyzes the factors influencing policy decisions related to High Speed Rail (HSR) in the 48 contiguous states. To analyze the administrative decision making more systematically, this dissertation constructs a new decision making framework. The Eastern...
Show moreThis dissertation is about policy decision making in transportation infrastructure. With this dissertation an attempt is made to understand factors which affect policy decisions in state governments or within the public sector. The dissertation analyzes the factors influencing policy decisions related to High Speed Rail (HSR) in the 48 contiguous states. To analyze the administrative decision making more systematically, this dissertation constructs a new decision making framework. The Eastern Three Elements (ETE) framework combines three established models in decision making. Using the ETE framework, the dissertation analyzes the reasons for the repealed Florida High Speed Rail (FHSR) and the reasons for the continuing progress of the California High Speed Rail (CHSR). By comparing the underpinning decision making, the dissertation provides factors that influence the policy decisions within state government. By recognizing these factors, the dissertation constructs hypotheses from the theoretical development, and empirically tests this underlying theory through a generalization to all states affected by the U.S. High Speed Rail Project. The finding is that the ETE framework provides a more complete analysis of the decision making in public transportation. These analyses provide evidence to assist in our understanding vis-à-vis the implications of today's public transportation system construction and public infrastructure policies.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-5385
Format: Thesis

Title: Assessing Innovation in American Counties: Examining the Prevalence of Green Procurement.
Creator: Smith, Christy Defriest, Klay, W. Earle, Giunipero, Larry, Berry, Frances, Brower, Ralph, Yang, Kaifeng, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Procurement is a vital activity of all levels of government. Technological innovations in public procurement such as purchasing cards (P-cards) and e-technology have made public procurement more efficient and have been oft-studied. However, social innovations, like environmentally preferable procurement (EPP), have not been widely examined for either their antecedents or outcomes. The purpose of this study is to assess how prevalent green procurement practices are in American counties and to...
Show moreProcurement is a vital activity of all levels of government. Technological innovations in public procurement such as purchasing cards (P-cards) and e-technology have made public procurement more efficient and have been oft-studied. However, social innovations, like environmentally preferable procurement (EPP), have not been widely examined for either their antecedents or outcomes. The purpose of this study is to assess how prevalent green procurement practices are in American counties and to try to identify some of the antecedents associated with environmentally preferable purchasing. One hundred and seventy four American counties were randomly selected based upon population and their websites were reviewed according to an index that recorded evidence of green purchasing practices, including having a written green purchasing policy, using eco-labels and/or green specifications in their bids, and whether or not they communicate a preference for green products to their vendors. This information was regressed against factors such as population, wealth, environmental interest group presence, membership in professional organizations, and whether or not the county has a sustainability office. The findings indicate that population, wealth, interest group presence, and having a sustainability office are all significantly and positively associated with green purchasing practices. The study also revealed that, while antecedents could be identified, the average county in this study had less than one item on the index. The implication is that there are still barriers to green purchasing practices that may only be fully understood through qualitative methods.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-8889
Format: Thesis

Title: Contracting Out Local Government Services to Nonprofit Organizations.
Creator: Jang, Hee Soun, Feiock, Richard C., Weissert, Carol S., Berry, Frances S., Brower, Ralph S., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This dissertation empirically tests theoretical arguments that contracting out municipal services results in lower service expenditures. Two research questions are investigated; what accounts for local government service provision and production decisions? And, to what extent do contracting out and the choice of sectors from which contractors are drawn influence levels of service expenditures by local governments? These questions are investigated by applying a transaction cost framework to...
Show moreThis dissertation empirically tests theoretical arguments that contracting out municipal services results in lower service expenditures. Two research questions are investigated; what accounts for local government service provision and production decisions? And, to what extent do contracting out and the choice of sectors from which contractors are drawn influence levels of service expenditures by local governments? These questions are investigated by applying a transaction cost framework to develop testable hypotheses and explain fiscal impact of municipality's service production arrangements. The empirical analysis focuses on the decision to contract out services and the resulting cost savings (if any) that result from contracting out. Six service areas for which expected transaction costs are significant were selected for analysis. These services also vary in terms of their service characteristics based on the tangibleness of service outputs and the complexity of service products. The services examined are: 1) electric utilities, 2) fire protection, 3) police, 4) parks, 5) libraries, and 6) public health services. The empirical results indicate that service specific characteristics are key determinants of contracting out decisions, the choice of sectors, and the cost savings realized from service production choices. Nonprofit production is concentrated in the softer social and human service areas. While some of the conventional thoughts on the inefficiency of government monopoly are consistently supported across all selected six services, the cost savings from private contracting to for-profit firms are only realized for electricity and fire protection service. Nonprofit organizations are an attractive option when municipalities face transaction cost incurred from difficulty in measurability of service outputs and high costs to monitor multiple dimensions of service quality. It has been found that independent nonprofit service market for lowering bidding price is important for local contracting out. This dissertation suggests that local governments may be able to partially overcome tradeoffs between cost and quality of publicly provided services by contracting out the delivery to nonprofit organizations.
Show less
Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3561
Format: Thesis

Title: The Concept and Causes of Human Prosperity.
Creator: Maridal, Jan H., Feiock, Richard C., Benson, Bruce, Smith, Lance de‐Haven, Gwartney, James, Eger, Robert, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This dissertation represents a comprehensive study of human prosperity. It consists of two main components separated into two essays. The first essay provides a theoretical definition and a measurement of prosperity. The second essay contributes a review of the institutional and cultural factors identified in the first essay, and examines their influence on the economic subset of prosperity. The definitions of the concept in Essay One, and the theoretical propositions of the determinants of...
Show moreThis dissertation represents a comprehensive study of human prosperity. It consists of two main components separated into two essays. The first essay provides a theoretical definition and a measurement of prosperity. The second essay contributes a review of the institutional and cultural factors identified in the first essay, and examines their influence on the economic subset of prosperity. The definitions of the concept in Essay One, and the theoretical propositions of the determinants of prosperity in Essay Two, are found to be supported through a cross-country empirical analysis. By defining human prosperity as life-satisfaction, Essay One identifies the correlates of prosperity through an analysis of cross-country measures of subjective well-being using raw data from the World Values Survey (1981–2005). The study finds robust evidence that income, freedom, health, religious beliefs, stability, security, and family life are among the factors contributing to human prosperity. The methods consist of a factor analysis of the survey questions combined with an OLS regression. A sensitivity analysis, using three large and distinct samples of the population, validates the findings and enhances the power of the model. The final section in Essay One evaluates existing measures of prosperity and develops a new index based on the findings. The descriptive statistics and the regression outcomes, as well as the index of prosperity in the first essay, demonstrate evidence that cultural factors play a relatively modest role in defining the causes of prosperity, but a more robust role in generating prosperity. The first essay, therefore, provides the background for analyzing the causes of prosperity. Because of the immensity of such a project, Essay Two concentrates on the economic aspect of prosperity. The first section in Essay Two evaluates the frameworks used in the academic literature. Reviews of the literature lead to the establishment of a social theory that suggests how the cultural factors identified in the first essay may be incorporated into a framework that analyzes economic prosperity. The final section in Essay Two reviews and proposes a model of economic prosperity that includes cultural mechanisms and tests this theoretical model. The empirical results provide strong support for the importance of cultural factors to economic prosperity. A short summary chapter concludes the dissertation.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2740
Format: Thesis

Title: Conditions That Facilitate the Implementation of Distance Learning Components into Traditional Master's Degree Curricula in Nursing.
Creator: Tarrant, Sandra W., Lick, Dale. W., Rowe, Anne E., Thomas, Hollie B., Bower, Beverly L., Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Distance learning components are being added to many undergraduate and graduate curricula in various academic fields. Nurse-midwifery has been a pioneering field in distance learning and the experiences of faculty and administrators with adding DL components to master's degree curricula provide insight for other administrators and faculty pursuing DL components for traditional master's degree programs. Through this study the researcher examined the conditions that facilitate the...
Show moreDistance learning components are being added to many undergraduate and graduate curricula in various academic fields. Nurse-midwifery has been a pioneering field in distance learning and the experiences of faculty and administrators with adding DL components to master's degree curricula provide insight for other administrators and faculty pursuing DL components for traditional master's degree programs. Through this study the researcher examined the conditions that facilitate the implementation of DL components into three master's degree programs in nursing. Faculty and administrator interviews were conducted and documents were analyzed through using NVivo 2.0 as a tool. Donald Ely's theoretical framework was employed, and findings indicate that the two most important conditions for implementing curricular change are Resources and Funding and Knowledge and Skills. The least important of the conditions was Incentives and Rewards for Participants. The study results show that there are similarities with the public universities which are divergent from the private university, which the researcher asserts relates to the differences in institutional missions. More research should be done with larger samples to determine the generalizability of these results across all specialty areas of nursing education as well as other academic fields.
Show less
Date Issued: 2004
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1690
Format: Thesis

Title: Coproduction as a Service Delivery Mechanism: The Role of Information, Government, and Individuals in Producing Environmental Public Goods.
Creator: Curley, Cali, Feiock, Richard, Coutts, Christopher, Berry, Frances, Yang, Kaifeng, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This dissertation proposes a new theoretical approach to the study of coproduction; it does so by providing a refined definition of the phenomenon, and responds to two of the largest criticisms of the literature, and incorporating the impact of information on the rate of participation in programs considered coproduction. Included in this new theory is a detailed account of the role of the individual, the role of government and the interactions between the two in jointly producing a public...
Show moreThis dissertation proposes a new theoretical approach to the study of coproduction; it does so by providing a refined definition of the phenomenon, and responds to two of the largest criticisms of the literature, and incorporating the impact of information on the rate of participation in programs considered coproduction. Included in this new theory is a detailed account of the role of the individual, the role of government and the interactions between the two in jointly producing a public good. This new conceptualization identifies three forms of coproduction: enabled, voluntary, and incentivized. Energy policy is used as an arena in which to test two of these forms of coproduction in an empirical analysis. This research suggests that information and the source of that information along with the monetary costs of participation are the largest barriers to participation in programs that result in coproduction and that the magnitude of these impacts changes according to the form of coproduction. The role of traditional media, newspaper articles, in providing information is examined through content analysis. I detail the impact that clusters of information from newspaper articles may have on policy participation. In addition, I examine participation in three programs offered by the City of Tallahassee. The programs that are examined in depth are a free energy audit program which provides information to customers about how to reduce energy consumption, the rebate program that offers one-time monetary payments that reduce the overall costs of updating appliances, and the low-interest loan program that incentivizes participation through a reduced interest rate guaranteed for the length of the loan up to five years. These three programs fall into two of the three categories of coproduction and are examined for their ability to produce the public good and the determinants of participation. These determinants help to examine differences between the groups of participants, the differences in motivations, the reliance on incentives, and the role of information in participation.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-8968
Format: Thesis

Title: Correlates of E-Government Use in County Governments.
Creator: Yagmurcu, Abdulhamit, Klay, William Earle, Stallins, J. Anthony, deHaven-Smith, Lance, McCreary, Samuel M., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: One hundred and one American counties were selected randomly within predetermined strata and used to study the extent of use of e-government technologies. The study design was cross-sectional and the time period of the study was a single year, 2006. Each website was analyzed to obtain an e-government utilization score. The research objective of this dissertation was twofold: First, to develop an up-to date and comprehensive index of e-government utilization, to be used to evaluate the extent...
Show moreOne hundred and one American counties were selected randomly within predetermined strata and used to study the extent of use of e-government technologies. The study design was cross-sectional and the time period of the study was a single year, 2006. Each website was analyzed to obtain an e-government utilization score. The research objective of this dissertation was twofold: First, to develop an up-to date and comprehensive index of e-government utilization, to be used to evaluate the extent of e-government utilization in county governments. The second objective was to identify the characteristics of those counties that are associated with more extensive utilization of e-government technologies. Counties' use of e-government technology was evaluated using four different levels of utilization; publish, interact, transact, and integrate. This study found that most of the sampled U.S. counties used the web only to publish information and to provide basic unsophisticated services. It was found that counties with larger populations, those in which employees were more professionally oriented toward communicating with citizens, and those that did Information Technology (IT) planning make greater use of e-government technology. This study found that neither population size nor local per capita wealth is an impediment for extensive use of e-government technology. It seems that within every county that utilizes e-government technology well there is a story as to why that has happened. The most important implication of this study is that the story seems to be related to professionalism. To tell the stories as to how e-government utilization emerges especially in local governments, the quantitative analysis of this study needs to be followed by good qualitative research.
Show less
Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1174
Format: Thesis

Title: Anticipatory Socialization and University Retention: An Analysis of the Effect of Enrollment at a Faith-Based Secondary School on the Progression of Students Through a Faith-Based University.
Creator: Latham, Sarah C., deHaven-Smith, Lance, Herrington, Carolyn, Berry, Frances, Feiock, Richard, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The retention and graduation of students is at the core of postsecondary education. This topic becomes increasingly relevant as tight budgets force state legislatures to seek increased accountability, and soaring tuition costs force students and parents to demand results for their investment. Numerous studies have been done exploring progression and the factors affecting it. However, few have framed the pursuit of a baccalaureate degree using the concept of anticipatory socialization. This...
Show moreThe retention and graduation of students is at the core of postsecondary education. This topic becomes increasingly relevant as tight budgets force state legislatures to seek increased accountability, and soaring tuition costs force students and parents to demand results for their investment. Numerous studies have been done exploring progression and the factors affecting it. However, few have framed the pursuit of a baccalaureate degree using the concept of anticipatory socialization. This study seeks to fill that void and link three fields of study: Organizational Theory, Anticipatory Socialization Theory, and Student Progression Research. A longitudinal cohort analysis was performed to assess the role of anticipatory socialization in increasing the likelihood of attainment of a baccalaureate degree. The anticipatory socialization mode of focus was attendance at a secondary faith-based institution as a socialization mechanism preparing students for attendance at a faith-based university. The hypothesis underlying the analysis suggested that students who are already socialized within a faith-based learning institution would exhibit higher graduation rates from a faith-based university, than students who graduated from non faith-based secondary institutions. Furthermore, using Tinto's Stages of college student progression, it was argued that attrition rates would be higher for non-faith-based high school graduates during the freshmen year, when integration occurs. Finally, the subsequent enrollment of drop-out was examined in order to determine the types of institutions they subsequently transferred to. Logistic regression models confirmed the effect of faith-based secondary school enrollment and found that the stage of exit was different based on high school type. The significant factors affecting subsequent enrollment still require further research.
Show less
Date Issued: 2004
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3263
Format: Thesis

Title: Institutional Choice in Local Economic Development Organizations.
Creator: Park, Jongsun, Feiock, Richard C., Barrilleaux, Charles, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Lee, Keon-Hyung, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Economic development is always a central concern for local governments, and has become increasingly important as the federal role in this area has been reduced in the last two decades. More recently, county governments have extended their activities in order to be closer to the people having greater needs and preferences resulting from economic decline and suburbanization. Economic development has become a major priority among counties. This dissertation takes an encompassing approach to...
Show moreEconomic development is always a central concern for local governments, and has become increasingly important as the federal role in this area has been reduced in the last two decades. More recently, county governments have extended their activities in order to be closer to the people having greater needs and preferences resulting from economic decline and suburbanization. Economic development has become a major priority among counties. This dissertation takes an encompassing approach to institutions that focus primarily on institutions as organization-level governing structures, but also views organizations and their choices of institutional structures as shaped by the larger institutional environments in which they are embedded. Local organizations have obvious importance for development priorities, policies, and success, but we know very little about the organizations and institutions for promoting local growth, or how and why they have chosen and changed over the past two decades. Especially, there is greater importance of local organizations in counties, because they have larger resource bases than municipalities, and stronger local identification which can facilitate economic development programs and policies. This study asks these three questions focusing on organizational choices for economic development in U.S. counties. How do communities organize themselves to promote economic development? Have county governments changed their organizational arrangements for promoting economic development? What accounts for organizational choice in three dimension of county economic development organizations: 1) internal organizations in departmental function; 2) locus of active organizations; 3) regional partnership organizations? With 500 respondents of the survey for statistical analyses, in internal organizations of county governments, the dominant choice was to place the department under the control of the county commission, administrator or manager, while the second was a separate department type in 2009. Also, the results indicate that counties with economic decline rely on separate type to robust economies, and specific interests and inter-local networks influence change of organizational arrangements positively in the structure of county governments. In the locus of development authority, public organization was the most dominant organizational arrangement for economic development in counties. Public-private organization was the second in 2009. In addition, the results of statistical analyses show that counties with economic decline and a reformed form of government rely more on public-private organizations to promote economic condition, while stronger environmental interest choose public organizations as the active actor for county economic development. Specific interests (pro-development interest and pro-environment interest) have affected change of development groups for the last 10 years. In 2009, about 80% of county governments joined in regional partnership organizations. The analysis indicates that stronger environmental interest, a reformed form of government, and a closer inter-local network are positively related with participating in the regional partnership organizations. Also, specific interests (pro-development interest and pro-environment interest) and a reformed form of government have made the county governments affiliate with the regional organizations between 1999 and 2009. Finally, this dissertation confirms that counties have chosen and changed their organizations for economic development reflecting public demands, specific interests, and inter-local relationships.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2246
Format: Thesis

Title: Institutions, Political Market, and Local Land Use Policy Change.
Creator: Yoo, Dongsang, Feiock, Richard C., Chapin, Timothy S., deHaven-Smith, Lance, Yang, Kaifeng, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This dissertation seeks to understand the prolong question, "why local communities adopt or change land use policies." The previous literature has provided partial and incomplete explanations about this issue. Property rights model does not explicitly consider the role of institutions and community interests while interest group models tend to put communities' physical characteristics as control variables. Because political economy view concentrates on the political variations, they consider...
Show moreThis dissertation seeks to understand the prolong question, "why local communities adopt or change land use policies." The previous literature has provided partial and incomplete explanations about this issue. Property rights model does not explicitly consider the role of institutions and community interests while interest group models tend to put communities' physical characteristics as control variables. Because political economy view concentrates on the political variations, they consider social and economic variables lightly. More importantly, they all ignore the role of informal institutions on local land use policy change. They are not wrong; rather they just provide partial explanations. To integrate those partial explanations and understand fully the land use policy world, it is required to construct a more comprehensive framework. In this research, I used the political market framework built upon Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to establish a comprehensive framework for local land use policy. Political market framework based on the IAD framework is a useful tool to integrate those partial aspects into a framework. Local land use policy decision, which creates distributional conflicts among community members, is a political process. In the process, various actors interact for articulating their preferences in a land use policy. Political market approach provides a useful tool to understand what values these actors have and how they are articulated in a land use policy. Political system of local governments works as formal institutions to provide incentives or constraints to a land use policy. To test why local land use policies are changed pro-environmental, I identify the variations of local comprehensive amendments in Florida cities. Comprehensive plans are policies since they constrain "who gets what." Local governments change their plans in a certain direction (pro-environmental) because they have their own institutional arrangements, community characteristics, and physical characteristics. To test the influences of these variables, I tested two models: Panel Probit Model for conservation amendments; Heckman Selection Model for the ratio of large to small scale amendments of future land use map. The results show that institutions really matter in local land use policy change. Strong mayor, district election type, turnovers of council members, and administrative capacity influence pro-environmental policy changes. The most important find is that informal institutions of social capital also constrain actors, or provide pro-environmental incentives to the local actors. In addition, community interests and physical characteristics are not ignorable. They have also significant influence on the policy change. From this research, I found that these community interests can be easily articulated in a land use policy when they go through particular institutions. Interaction terms provide that various pro-environmental interests are moderated by mayor form of government and election type as well as informal institutions. Another important finding is that rule should be considered as a configurational form, not an additive form. I define strong mayor council form from the consideration of other relevant rules such as mayor elected directly, administrative power, appointment and budget power, and veto power, even though it is still limited configuration. Only the form of government that a city charter provides does not work well in a complex political system. This study has academic and practical significance. First, by integrating four models and constructing a more comprehensive explanation, this study brings sharper theory and better understanding to local land use policy. Second, the influence of institutions has been limited to formal institutions. Adding informal institutions in the framework may provide more consistent impact of institutions on local land use policy change. Third, using dynamic interaction terms in the framework proves how institutions matter on community interests as well as additive influence of institutions on policy outcome. Finally and practically, this study may provide some clues about the solutions to environmental preservation and efficient growth management practices. Formal institutions matter since it shape incentives and constraints on policy actors. However, those institutions need much of transaction costs to be established and changed. Informal institutions, even though it is not constructed easily, play roles to reduce transaction costs of addressing problems and distributional conflicts, and provide and more efficient way to local administration of growth management.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0688
Format: Thesis

Title: Institutional Collective Action and Special Purpose Governments: Special District Formation and Regional Governance.
Creator: Farmer, Jayce Lavalle, Feiock, Richard C., Iatarola, Patrice, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Wolfson, Gabriella S., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Fragmented local governmental units will cooperate to address needs that span across regional boundaries while retaining local autonomy. These efforts, referred to as institutional collective action (ICA), come forth when local governments voluntarily form institutional arrangements to address common goals. Multiple jurisdictions are seen as working together to enhance their own interests, while still contributing to the needs of the broader region. Such efforts allow local governments to...
Show moreFragmented local governmental units will cooperate to address needs that span across regional boundaries while retaining local autonomy. These efforts, referred to as institutional collective action (ICA), come forth when local governments voluntarily form institutional arrangements to address common goals. Multiple jurisdictions are seen as working together to enhance their own interests, while still contributing to the needs of the broader region. Such efforts allow local governments to augment the provision of their services and address citizens' demands where doing so on an individual basis may be more difficult, specifically when limitations exist that hinder governments from taxing and borrowing for service production. As with individual collective action, ICA is easier when the number of actors is small and homogenous, and when they share common goals. The costs of acting collectively must also be lower than the costs of individual actions. When these conditions are not met, barriers to ICA will exist leading to fewer incentives to cooperate. This problem creates a need for less voluntary mechanisms to address regional goals, while maintaining some measure of self governance. This research argues that regional special districts provide this mechanism. To explore this proposition, this dissertation investigates when and how local governments create regional special purpose governments. The specific focus is on county governments, and their choices to use multi-jurisdictional special districts when faced with barriers to institutional collective action. This question is addressed using descriptive and empirical analyses. To conduct the descriptive analysis, surveys were conducted among 18 special districts that explored the implications of barriers to voluntary cooperation on regional special district formation. The empirical portion of this study was conducted using data for 790 counties collected from the U.S. Census of Governments for the periods of 1992 and 2002. Logistic and Poisson regression analyses were used to analyze these data. The major lesson which was brought forth tells us that it is important to consider the implications of the service sector when examining special district usage. The consideration of barriers to institutional collective action revealed that conditions did not have uniform effects among the various service sectors. In order for various types to be used, regional needs had to exist; however, the extent of those regional needs were based upon specific contextual factors.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4501
Format: Thesis

Title: The Interaction of Politics and Management in Public Leadership: Measuring Public Political Skill and Assessing Its Effects.
Creator: Fu, Kai-Jo, Yang, Kaifeng, Ferris, Gerald R., Berry, Frances S., Brower, Ralph S., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Public sector leadership calls on public administrators to possess skills to resolve complex policy problems/crises and balance political interests and values through negotiation and conflict resolution. However, current leadership theories in the public administration literature have not paid sufficient attention to this issue. Even more surprisingly, almost no empirical studies have been done to measure and explain this particular dimension of public sector leadership. While the business...
Show morePublic sector leadership calls on public administrators to possess skills to resolve complex policy problems/crises and balance political interests and values through negotiation and conflict resolution. However, current leadership theories in the public administration literature have not paid sufficient attention to this issue. Even more surprisingly, almost no empirical studies have been done to measure and explain this particular dimension of public sector leadership. While the business literature has studied individual political skills focusing on interpersonal situations, the political skill construct in the field of public administration should consider both internal and external political environments. Thus, this study develops a new multidimensional construct--public political skill (PPS) that contains three sub-dimensions: political astuteness, inclusive skill, and visionary skill. Using survey data from the Florida Center for Public Management, this new construct is defined using confirmatory factor analysis and is tested for internal reliability and construct validity. Results show that PPS is different from the political skill inventory (PSI) developed by business scholars. In addition, the results find that PPS not only contributes to job promotion and satisfaction but also attenuates the negative effects of red tape on job satisfaction and neutralizes job tension. Yet, the PPS on job tension model shows insignificant results and the interaction with goal ambiguity has dazzling findings which require further discussion. The implications from these results and direction for future research are provided.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4847
Format: Thesis

Title: Interlocal Collaboration on Energy Efficiency, Sustainability and Climate Change Issues.
Creator: Chen, Ssu-Hsien, Feiock, Richard C., Yang, Kaifeng, Cartes, David, Zhao, Tingting, Berry, Frances Stokes, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Interlocal energy collaboration builds upon network structures among local policy actors dealing with energy, climate change and sustainability issues. Collaboration efforts overcome institutional collective action (ICA) dilemmas, and cope with the problems spanning jurisdictional boundaries, externalities, and free-rider problems. Interlocal energy collaboration emerges as the agreements in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction, pollution control, land use, purchasing, retrofits,...
Show moreInterlocal energy collaboration builds upon network structures among local policy actors dealing with energy, climate change and sustainability issues. Collaboration efforts overcome institutional collective action (ICA) dilemmas, and cope with the problems spanning jurisdictional boundaries, externalities, and free-rider problems. Interlocal energy collaboration emerges as the agreements in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction, pollution control, land use, purchasing, retrofits, transportation, and so forth. Cities work collaboratively through contractual mechanisms (i.e. formal/informal agreements) and collective mechanisms (i.e. regional partnerships or membership organizations) on a variety of energy issues. What factors facilitate interlocal energy collaboration? To what extent is collaboration through interlocal contractual mechanisms different from collective mechanisms? This dissertation tries to answer these questions by examining: city goal priority on energy related issues as well as other ICA explanatory factors. Research data are drawn mainly from the 2010 national survey "Implementation of energy efficiency and sustainability program" supported by National Science Foundation and the IBM Endowment for the Business of Government. The research results show that city emphasis on common pool resource, scale economies and externality issues significantly affect individual selection of tools for energy collaboration. When expected transaction costs are extremely high or low, the contractual mechanism of informal agreement is more likely to be selected to preserve most local autonomy and flexibility; otherwise, written and formal tools for collaboration are preferred to impose constraints on individual behavior and reduce the risks of defection.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3831
Format: Thesis

Title: The Impacts of the Hollow State on Organizational Practices and Individual Attitudes in the Federal Government.
Creator: Wang, Tae Kyu, Yang, Kaifeng, Ferris, Gerald R., Klay, William Earle, Brower, Ralph S., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The decentralization or devolution of public service delivery has been prevalent in modern governance. Such transformation of governance enhances the roles of sub-national governments or nonprofit and private organizations for public service delivery. However, the extensive decentralization or devolution of public service delivery may make the federal government seem more 'hollow'. What is commonly called the "hollow state" is a significant challenge in public administration. Scholars have...
Show moreThe decentralization or devolution of public service delivery has been prevalent in modern governance. Such transformation of governance enhances the roles of sub-national governments or nonprofit and private organizations for public service delivery. However, the extensive decentralization or devolution of public service delivery may make the federal government seem more 'hollow'. What is commonly called the "hollow state" is a significant challenge in public administration. Scholars have recently paid increasing attention to the hollow state by focusing on service networks and contracts. They have identified a number of important factors related to network and contract management. Nevertheless, many questions remain about the impact of the hollow state federal agencies. This study explores to answer how the hollow state has affected organizational structures and professionalization in the federal government. This study also looks at the impacts of the hollow state on the attitudes of federal civil servants regarding performance-based felt accountability, affective commitment and job satisfaction. This study found that the hollow state type activities have significant impacts on both organizational structures and professionalization in federal agencies. Through panel data analysis, this study indicates that the hollow state activities increase organizational centralization and levels of professionalization in federal agencies. The results of hierarchical linear models show that hollow state initiatives negatively impact performance-based felt accountability of federal civil servants. Based on the findings, this study provides theoretical and practical implications on the hollowing out of government.
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-8658
Format: Thesis

Title: It Strategy and Web-Based Transaction Technology in Small Organizations.
Creator: Posey, Risette, Berry, Frances Stokes, Barrilleaux, Charles, Brower, Ralph, Klay, William Earle, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study was undertaken to examine the extent to which web-based transaction technology has diffused in small North Florida nonprofit organizations and to study what, if any, relationship exists between the adoption of web-based transaction technology and the adoption of other technologies in these organizations. The study also examined the nature and frequency of strategic technology planning in these organizations, and their relationship to the adoption of web-based transaction technology...
Show moreThis study was undertaken to examine the extent to which web-based transaction technology has diffused in small North Florida nonprofit organizations and to study what, if any, relationship exists between the adoption of web-based transaction technology and the adoption of other technologies in these organizations. The study also examined the nature and frequency of strategic technology planning in these organizations, and their relationship to the adoption of web-based transaction technology. This work is important and necessary as a means of understanding how popular, useful, and potentially powerful technologies are introduced and used in small organizations, to understand what, if any, technological complexities may be associated with the adoption of this potentially powerful technology. We also seek to understand the different formal and informal means by which these nonprofit organizations consider, then move to introduce and set permanently into organizational habit patterns, new technologies.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0467
Format: Thesis

Title: Green Governance Innovation: The Institutional Political Market for Energy Sustainable Communities.
Creator: Bae, Jungah, Feiock, Richard C., Scholz, John T., Berry, Frances S., Yang, Kaifeng, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: What is green governance? Governance is generally defined as steering rather than rowing the changing processes of policy decisions and actions across the boundaries of the private, public and civic sectors (O'Leary, Gerard, and Bingham 2006a). Increasingly, this concept of governance has been widely employed in policy areas such as service delivery, emergency management, education and environment (Biermann et al 2009).Green governance promotes sustainability through both governmental and...
Show moreWhat is green governance? Governance is generally defined as steering rather than rowing the changing processes of policy decisions and actions across the boundaries of the private, public and civic sectors (O'Leary, Gerard, and Bingham 2006a). Increasingly, this concept of governance has been widely employed in policy areas such as service delivery, emergency management, education and environment (Biermann et al 2009).Green governance promotes sustainability through both governmental and nongovernmental entrepreneurism as well as through partnerships and collaborations. Three important but little understood elements of adoption of governmental programs and policy tools on local sustainability and climate protection are: mobilization of entrepreneurs in the community and within government to promote innovation that alters citizens behaviors to encourage sustainability (Krause 2011), political institutions to structure incentives to promote sustainability in the community or governmental operations (Cook 2010; Keohane, Revesz and Stavins 1997), networking to link local governments within a metropolitan region, and inter-organizational coordinating across governmental authorities, for-profit and nonprofit entities to promote energy and environmental sustainability (Schneider et al. 2003; Krause 2010). In the U.S. only a minority of communities have made substantial progress toward green governance. For instance, Jepson (2004) shows the variance of sustainable development which has taken action in terms of thirty-nine policies and techniques in U.S. cities. On the face, it appears that there are substantial obstacles to collective action toward local green governance (Carolyn and Schneider 2003; Krause 2010; Feiock et al. 2009). A critical question this dissertation addresses is how to explain the variation across communities, and how some communities have overcome the barriers to green governance and others not? One approach to understanding the transition to green governance is based on market supply and demand logic. Property rights theories argue that governance institutions emerge in response to scarcity and changes in relative prices (Libecap 1989; Alchian and Demsetz 1973; North 1990). Demand for new institutions is generated by the potential efficiency gains (Alchian and Demsetz 1973). This simple model provides a powerful and parsimonious explanation for institutional change but it neglects the role played by political institutions. Feiock and Lubell advance a political market model that highlights the role of political institutions (Feiock 2006; Lubell, Feiock and Ramierez 2005; 2009). One limitation of the Feiock (2006) and Lubell (2005) approach to political market explanations is emphasis on formal political institutions to the exclusion of the role of network relationships as informal institutions. This dissertation modifies and extends this political market model to advance an explanation of local green governance transition and to test it empirically. In other words, the primary concern here is about the "institutional political market explanation for green governance innovation". Cities are the central actors for framing values and diffusion of knowledge in ways that can complement command-control regulations and market competition. Cities shape public and private sector energy efficiency and conservation through a wide array of activities and responsibilities including transportation, land use regulation and building code policy decisions (Coenen and Menkveld 2002; Krause 2010). They also support energy conservation innovations and greenhouse gas mitigation programs through their own utilities as well as through programs that jurisdictions coordinate with utility companies. Thus cities play a critical role in fostering energy efficient technologies, improving existing and new construction building efficiencies and establishing energy system integration to enhance sustainable community developments. While extensive literature exists on the transfer of technologies and partnerships (Bozeman 2000; Link 2005), far less research exists examining the role of local governments in sustainability. Therefore, the investigation of local governments' roles affecting the variation of green governance is itself a unique contribution, raising questions about the motivations and capacities of municipalities to play that role.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4701
Format: Thesis

Title: George Washington: Progenitor of American Public Administration Theory.
Creator: Cook, Scott A. (Scott Alan), Klay, William Earle, Brower, Ralph, deHaven-Smith, Lance, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: In this dissertation I use an institutional framework to examine the contributions of George Washington to public administration theory and practice. The best way to understand current public administration theory is to examine its historical roots. Institutions are a part of culture, and thus, public administration's institutions have passed from generation to generation along with our other cultural beliefs and values. As the first commander in chief of the Continental Army, the only...
Show moreIn this dissertation I use an institutional framework to examine the contributions of George Washington to public administration theory and practice. The best way to understand current public administration theory is to examine its historical roots. Institutions are a part of culture, and thus, public administration's institutions have passed from generation to generation along with our other cultural beliefs and values. As the first commander in chief of the Continental Army, the only president of the Constitutional Convention, and the first president of the United States, Washington was frequently in positions to establish precedents that could later become institutions of American public administration. In my dissertation, I use grounded analysis and primary documents from archives to uncover Washington's theories and practices. I then match these findings to some of the most important institutions in American public administration. This research is important for three principal reasons. One, as the first administrator of the federal government, Washington was in the position to set precedent in public administration theory and practice. Two, understanding the historical development of public administration enhances our understanding of current public administration theory and practice. And three, there is a gap in the literature because current scholars have not studied Washington's contributions to public administration. In addition to uncovering Washington's general theory of public administration, I describe his contributions to theory and practice in the areas of military administration, education, Progressivism, financial management, and public-private partnerships. Washington's general theory is based on a combination of virtue ethics and utilitarianism. Using his theory, he helped originate institutions such as the federal budgeting process and the military's professional reading program, he serves as a role model for such institutions as civilian control of the military and government accountability, and he indicated the direction of such institutions as merit selection and public education.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4779
Format: Thesis

Title: A Government of Our Own: The Politics of Municipal Incorporation.
Creator: Sides, Jason C., deHaven-Smith, Lance, Connerly, Charles, Feiock, Richard, Brower, Ralph, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The topic of municipal incorporation is increasingly reemerging as a topic dissevering of our attention. Metropolitan regions continue to grow and residents maintain a desire to live beyond the cities' borders. As these processes continue, we must recognize that individuals will seek to create new municipal governments that fulfill the wishes they hold for the new communities. Theories of incorporation rests on a great deal of theorizing, but have not been the subject of numerous attempts to...
Show moreThe topic of municipal incorporation is increasingly reemerging as a topic dissevering of our attention. Metropolitan regions continue to grow and residents maintain a desire to live beyond the cities' borders. As these processes continue, we must recognize that individuals will seek to create new municipal governments that fulfill the wishes they hold for the new communities. Theories of incorporation rests on a great deal of theorizing, but have not been the subject of numerous attempts to empirically test these theories. One treatment, however, that involved extensive testing of theories of incorporation was provided by Burns (1994). While Burns' work has received a great deal of recognition, the work displays significant flaws which limit the conclusions that can be drawn from the findings presented by Burns. These shortcomings are taken as an opportunity to recast the research approach taken when investigating this topic. I argue that qualitative research methods offer the best mechanism to uncover the true meaning of incorporation. I use these methods to conduct several interviews with participants of an on-going incorporation effort. These interviews highlight two facts. First, people behave based on value rationality, rather than instrumental rationality. Second, people will support incorporation when they spend less time outside the community. The implications of these findings for the literature are discussed.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1738
Format: Thesis

Title: Growth Management by Land Use Regimes and Development Permitting: Explaining Delay in Land Use Development in Florida.
Creator: Ramirez de la Cruz, Edgar E., Feiock, Richard C., Scholz, John T., Berry, Frances S., Brower, Ralph S., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This research seeks to uncover why communities adopt and policies that influence growth by affecting the cost and timing of new development. It also seeks to account for variation across specific development decisions that result from differences in how land use policies are implemented. In order to provide a more integrative approach of land use policy, I advance the concept of Land-Use Regimes (LUR). LUR identifies multiple policies, ordinances and mandates chosen and implemented by local...
Show moreThis research seeks to uncover why communities adopt and policies that influence growth by affecting the cost and timing of new development. It also seeks to account for variation across specific development decisions that result from differences in how land use policies are implemented. In order to provide a more integrative approach of land use policy, I advance the concept of Land-Use Regimes (LUR). LUR identifies multiple policies, ordinances and mandates chosen and implemented by local governments based on their impact on land development costs as well as their effect on uncertainty and delay in development process. I explain why different LUR configurations occur. Land Use Regimes are institutional arrangements formed by multiple individual policies, mandates and codes intended to shape individual's behavior. The understanding of the particular institutional and social environment that lead to the adoption of such policies, can help public mangers to understand the extent to which political institutions may lead to problems such as affordable housing, formation of exclusionary communities, decline of quality of life and degradation of the environment, among other urban issues associated with growth. This research shows that existing theories on land use regulation, do not explain why communities adopt a LUR that imposes high levels of delay to new developments, as well as the extent to which such delays complement or substitute other policies that encourages developers to behave in a particular form. Despite the possible inefficiency of land use policy based on delay, its adoption may be an objective for some political actors. Antigrowth groups such as some environmentalist groups or homeowners associations seeking exclusion and urban containment may prefer a high level of delay because it functions de facto as a growth control. In addition, local authorities, such as planning officials may prefer regulations that generate high levels of potential delay because they can use discretion to shorten or lengthen the timing of the review process. This research finds that by using their discretion to impose delay, local public officials can manage growth based on their own values and principles. In highly regulated regimes, planners increase their power to negotiate with developers in order to impose the values of the community or the set of values shared by their professional community. Therefore, a regulatory regime that imposes high levels of delay to new developments creates conditions for reviewers or public officials to become the "de-facto" regulators, because by defining the delay of a regime they decide what kind of projects are viable depending upon the financial costs that delays have on new developments.
Show less
Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2129
Format: Thesis

Title: Muslim Women's Experience in Urban Public Spaces in a Multicultural American Context.
Creator: Mohamadi, Asal, Miles, Rebecca, Garretson, Peter, Doan, Petra, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study seeks to understand the everyday experiences of Muslim women in public spaces of a multicultural environment. Moreover, it explores how planning should address the experiences of this particular group. The urban context of interest for this study is New York City because it hosts a multitude of immigrants from an array of cultures and ethnicities thus providing an ideal template of a multicultural city. Phenomenology is obviously well suited to a study of the phenomenon of public...
Show moreThis study seeks to understand the everyday experiences of Muslim women in public spaces of a multicultural environment. Moreover, it explores how planning should address the experiences of this particular group. The urban context of interest for this study is New York City because it hosts a multitude of immigrants from an array of cultures and ethnicities thus providing an ideal template of a multicultural city. Phenomenology is obviously well suited to a study of the phenomenon of public space for Muslim women in a particular context, and is the research approach adopted here. Based on data collected through semi-structured interviews and cognitive mapping, this study identifies six core themes, all of which address the importance of religion and culture in the way individuals experience the built environment. First, for the participants of this study the neighborhood environment is experienced as a space with its own religious identity. Mosques and Islamic centers are influential in forming this experience. Second, the built environment is also experienced as a cultural space. Arab stores, Arabic signage, and Arabic language are identified as important factors in shaping their cultural experiences. Third, most of the participants experience both Bay Ridge (the study area) and Brooklyn as physically diverse areas. The mixed-use design gives Muslim women an opportunity to move around more conveniently, without being dependent on their male family members. It also facilitates the process of integration for new immigrant women into the host country. Fourth, the participants experience being different from non-Muslims and they describe how the attitude of other people contributes to their feelings and experiences. Fifth, being exposed to people from different cultures, being in a place with racial and ethnic diversity is associated with pleasant experiences for the participants. And sixth, the last theme suggests that women of this study may experience the pressure of representing Islam positively to non-Muslims in public spaces, while at the same time they feel the pressure of upholding reputation and family honor within the community of Arabs. The findings of this study with its multicultural context suggest that the social construct of space is fluid. Gender, the control of space by the state, and the ethnic/racial/religious composition of space all contribute to how public spaces are experienced by users. The predominant presence of men, police, and social homogeneity (Muslim-only environment, White-only neighborhood, etc) makes the participants of this study experience a more private space . A lesser prevalence of men, less control of space by police, and more exposure to people from different ethnic and religious groups make spaces feel more public to the Muslim women of this study. The study's findings also suggest which places help women create meaning out of their neighborhood lives; mosques, parks and ocean views, ethnic avenues (with an emphasis on Arabic language), shopping centers (the street as a shopping district), and home appeared on almost all women's maps. There were also meaningful places to which women are not welcomed. These places were under the control of Arab men of the neighborhood, through the mechanism of their gaze. As others have advocated, the findings of this study suggest that planners should design spaces in such a way that people of different ethnicities, with different sets of values, have the opportunity to encounter each other. This would promote recognition of individuals who may feel marginalized. For Muslim women in particular, it would require ensuring that services are provided in a manner that allows Muslim women to benefit, i.e. that fits their beliefs. For example, a more visible design of parks and enough lighting as well as an appropriate location (for instance close to mosques or other cultural-religious spaces) would make services more accessible to this group of individuals. This type of planning might also suggest advocating ethno-religious festivals, which can further the recognition of the ethnic or religious values of Arab Muslims and educate non-Arabs and non-Muslims about them. The involvement of ethnic organizations in community planning boards (or at least advocating for them) may be a key factor in integrating minorities into the planning processes.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4635
Format: Thesis

Title: Local Land Use Choices: An Empirical Investigation of Development Impact Fees in Florida.
Creator: Jeong, Moon-Gi, Feiock, Richard C., Ihlanfeldt, Keith, Berry, Frances S., Bradley, Robert B., Klay, Earle, Wolfson, Gabriela S., School of Public Administration and Policy,...
Show moreJeong, Moon-Gi, Feiock, Richard C., Ihlanfeldt, Keith, Berry, Frances S., Bradley, Robert B., Klay, Earle, Wolfson, Gabriela S., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Show less
Abstract/Description: What factors account for local institutional choices such as adoption of impact fees? Is there a pattern to impact fee adoptions? These questions are of critical importance because in the United States, local governments are primarily responsible for defining property rights concerning how people use land and providing basic public services to citizens. The theoretical framework to investigate impact fee adoption combines political market approaches based in interest group theories of...
Show moreWhat factors account for local institutional choices such as adoption of impact fees? Is there a pattern to impact fee adoptions? These questions are of critical importance because in the United States, local governments are primarily responsible for defining property rights concerning how people use land and providing basic public services to citizens. The theoretical framework to investigate impact fee adoption combines political market approaches based in interest group theories of property rights and diffusion theories of innovation. This framework identifies the local demanders and suppliers, intergovernmental institutions, administrative capacity, diffusion, and financial conditions. Empirical analysis focuses on adoption of impact fees—transportation, parks, fire/EMS, police/corrections, school, and library—in 66 Florida counties from 1977 to 2001, using event history analysis. The first impact fee in Florida was parks impact fees adopted by Broward County in 1977. The first ten adoptions occurred in counties located in the southern and central regions of Florida except for Holmes County, and the adoptions spread to the northern counties in the mid- and late 1980s. Counties have frequently changed impact fee schedules. Parks impact fees have been changed more often—about 4 times on average—than any other type of fees. The empirical results regarding determinants of impact fee adoptions provide several key lessons. First, the results suggest that interest groups such as high-income citizens and the development community have a significant influence on impact fee adoptions. Second, motivations of local government decision makers promote controversial impact fee adoptions such as school impact fees. Third, Florida counties experienced significant increase in the impact fee adoptions after the Growth Management Act of 1985 and case laws in 1983. Fourth, counties are more likely to adopt impact fees if more neighboring counties have adopted impact fees. Fifth, administrative capacity as a critical resource influences impact fee adoptions. Counties having employees with professional and skilled expertise are more likely to adopt impact fees. Sixth, previous studies on determinants of impact fee adoptions attributed the adoption of impact fees to local growth, especially population growth. The empirical findings provide consistent and strong effects of local growth on impact fee adoptions.
Show less
Date Issued: 2004
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3528
Format: Thesis

Title: Local Official's Incentives and Policy-Making: Through the Lens of the Politics Administration Relationship.
Creator: Zhang, Yahong, Feiock, Richard C., Barrilleaux, Charles, Berry, Frances Stokes, Yang, Kaifeng, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This research builds on the studies of politics-administration relationships at local government level. According to the public administration literature, the politics-administration relationship has dynamically evolved from orthodox dichotomy to modified dichotomy and to partnership models. Accepting the notion that professional administrators are important policy-makers along with elected officials, which is identified in modified dichotomy and partnership models, this study raises three...
Show moreThis research builds on the studies of politics-administration relationships at local government level. According to the public administration literature, the politics-administration relationship has dynamically evolved from orthodox dichotomy to modified dichotomy and to partnership models. Accepting the notion that professional administrators are important policy-makers along with elected officials, which is identified in modified dichotomy and partnership models, this study raises three empirical questions: How are elected and appointed executives different as policy-makers? What factors determine their interaction patterns in policy-making? And, do these two types of policy-makers have different policy preferences that account for their policy behavior? To answer these questions, this study systematically identifies incentive structures faced by local elected officials and professional administrators through integrating rational choice and sociological institutional approaches. In this framework three categories of factors that shape local officials' policy behavior are specified: organizational authority, social contexts, and career status, with each indicating authority-based, social-based, and individual-based incentives. This framework not only considers incentive factors that induce certain policy behavior, but also includes constraint factors. The main proposition is that elected officials and appointed administrators, imbedded in different social settings and with different career interest, face distinct incentives to policy-making and hold different policy preferences. Using the data collected though the mayor survey and city manager survey conducted in Florida cities in 2006, three sets of empirical models—mayor-manager difference models, policy leadership model, and policy choice models—are operated to address each empirical question. The purpose for the mayor-manager difference models is to investigate whether the survey data provide empirical validation for the theoretical incentive structure framework. The models of policy leadership and policy choices apply the incentive structure framework to explore policy-making patterns, which examine the usefulness of the framework. The results of these models lend preliminary support for the framework.
Show less
Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0541
Format: Thesis

Title: Local Government Management Innovation Nested in State Government Levels: Local Service Delivery Contracting and Performance Measurement.
Creator: Hsieh, Jun Yi, Berry, Frances S., Reynolds, John, Feiock, Richard, Yang, Kaifeng, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The interaction of policy and management presents a close relationship in administrative practices. This dissertation estimates the impacts on use of local performance measures related to local service contracting. The previous research only tested individual state level or local level, rather than estimated how state factors influence local practices. For example, the hierarchical rules, mandates, and laws made by state levels might affect the adoption rates of local management innovation....
Show moreThe interaction of policy and management presents a close relationship in administrative practices. This dissertation estimates the impacts on use of local performance measures related to local service contracting. The previous research only tested individual state level or local level, rather than estimated how state factors influence local practices. For example, the hierarchical rules, mandates, and laws made by state levels might affect the adoption rates of local management innovation. As well, the previous efforts only used cross-sectional data to understand the adoption of local management innovation, which may overlook the changes over time that take place in local management performance measurement innovation. In this dissertation, the propensity to "implement" the adoption of a new management instrument has been studied under the rubric of management innovation, specifically as adopting a variety of performance measurement in local service delivery contracting. To analyze the "diffusion" characteristic of space and time, the model strategies employed in this dissertation include the local level and state level with a time growth curve estimated by Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) and Hierarchical Generalized Linear Model (HGLM). To enhance understanding of the adoption and the process of management innovation, the study employs panel data drawn from the survey of 1992, 1997, and 2002 International City and County Management Association (ICMA) city administrators' responses to local service delivery programs on municipal and county governments nested in state levels to test the adoption of local performance measures related to service contracting. This dissertation intends to estimate the relationship about how contract management capacity and state factors influence the rate of use of performance measurement, and to compare two group differences of private contracting, and nonprofit contracting employed by local governments nested in state levels. Beyond our expectations, the diffusion of local performance measurement nested in state level did not significantly change over time, but the findings with the growth curve models showed that the adoption of performance measurement indeed had grown over our observed time. In general, the local contract management capacity (e.g., feasibility assessment, evaluation, and implementation) significantly matters to the adoption of three types of performance measurements (e.g., citizen satisfaction, cost, contract compliance). In individual, the contract management capacity and state factors (e.g., state divided government, state reinventions) significantly impacts the use of performance measurement for private contracting. However, the state factors weakly influence the adoption of performance measurements when local governments employed nonprofit contracting. Several factors--structural and institutional heterogeneity-- can explain these differences in use of performance measures related to private contracting, and nonprofit contracting. The empirical findings also show that state factors have a large impact on the adoption of performance measurement related to service delivery contracting. The findings suggest that local practices are indeed embedded in multilevel diffusion that may be unobserved by the previous studies in public administration research.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3699
Format: Thesis

Title: Locus of an Emergent Field: Framing Emergency Management Knowledge, Values, and Priorities within Current Academic Curricula.
Creator: Dilling, Janet, Klay, William Earle, Cohen-Vogel, Lora, Brower, Ralph, Berry, Frances, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The field of Emergency Management is in a period of dramatic knowledge expansion. Practitioners from diverse public and private organizations and all levels of government are enjoying increased visibility and resources in combating a string of media enriched disaster events. A growing number of scholars and practitioners from multiple originating disciplines are bringing together an ever-increasing body of written work to support the recognition of Emergency Management as a profession and as...
Show moreThe field of Emergency Management is in a period of dramatic knowledge expansion. Practitioners from diverse public and private organizations and all levels of government are enjoying increased visibility and resources in combating a string of media enriched disaster events. A growing number of scholars and practitioners from multiple originating disciplines are bringing together an ever-increasing body of written work to support the recognition of Emergency Management as a profession and as a field for academic inquiry. This development in the United States has been propelled by the expansion of emergency management issues across disciplines, the establishment of a large number of academic programs across the country, and increasing visibility of disaster and its consequences, including the most recent emphasis on terrorism and homeland security. This study seeks to determine the degree of alignment between the perceptions of academics and practitioners in the field. To that end, this study addresses two research questions: 1) based on existing academic curricula, what are some of the core knowledge components of Emergency Management and what is the relative emphasis placed on each of the identified components; and 2) how and to what extent does the curricula content create intersection between originating disciplines and institutions of emergency management practice, or more plainly stated, between academics and practitioners.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-0331
Format: Thesis

Title: Local Government Joint Ventures: Cooperation and Competition for Economic Development.
Creator: Hawkins, Christopher V. (Christopher Vincent), Chapin, Tim, Feiock, Richard, Connerly, Charles, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Voluntary cooperative arrangements are being established among local governments for economic development purposes. However, there is a lack of empirical research that explains the conditions under which cooperative joint ventures are formed. Extending the Institutional Collective Action framework to the policy area of economic development, this dissertation explores how local government units overcome transaction costs that pose barriers to acting collectively. Survey research methods are...
Show moreVoluntary cooperative arrangements are being established among local governments for economic development purposes. However, there is a lack of empirical research that explains the conditions under which cooperative joint ventures are formed. Extending the Institutional Collective Action framework to the policy area of economic development, this dissertation explores how local government units overcome transaction costs that pose barriers to acting collectively. Survey research methods are used to collect data on intergovernmental relations from 425 local governments with a population of 10,000 or more in 12 metropolitan areas. A logistic regression model is used to test the extent to which a combination of community characteristics and intergovernmental network resources influence voluntary cooperation. The findings suggest that among the factors that influence the formation of joint ventures is frequent communication among economic development officials and planners, cooperative norms and trust, and the competitive development activity of local governments.
Show less
Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4200
Format: Thesis

Title: Magnet School Choice and Its Impacts on Student Achievement and Racial and Socio-Economic Segregation in Florida.
Creator: Ryoo, Nayong, Berry, Frances Stokes, Ueno, Koji, Feiock, Richard C., Lee, Keon-Hyung, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The rapid growth of magnet schools in the 1980s introduced the first widely adopted form of public school choice in the United States. Magnet-based choice was supported as a way to expand school choice options for parents, to bring innovation through specialty schools and programs, and to promote racial integration voluntarily. Prior to studying the impact of magnet school choice, I examined the role of racial and economic segregation issues in Florida public school systems to understand the...
Show moreThe rapid growth of magnet schools in the 1980s introduced the first widely adopted form of public school choice in the United States. Magnet-based choice was supported as a way to expand school choice options for parents, to bring innovation through specialty schools and programs, and to promote racial integration voluntarily. Prior to studying the impact of magnet school choice, I examined the role of racial and economic segregation issues in Florida public school systems to understand the background of magnet school policy adoption, to recognize how the impact of magnet school policy has changed, and to discern what role magnet school policy has played in the public school system. Thus, this dissertation examines the impact of magnet schools on the K-12 public school system in Florida as well as the impact that magnet schools have on two important goals in public education reform--higher student academic performance and racial desegregation--using the lens of school choice theory on a market competition approach to public policy. In order to investigate policy impacts more precisely, this study measures school choice policy impact in three ways 1) by policy adoption, 2) by degree of school choice availability, and 3) by degree of policy involvement. Specifically, to assess racial desegregation, this study uses several measurements such as the dissimilarity index (DI), standard deviation and the interracial exposure index (EI) to examine magnet school impact on racial desegregation at the level of both school and school district. To study student academic performance, this study uses Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores to examine magnet school impact on student achievement. In addition to studying magnet schools by themselves, this study also examines the combined impact of charter and magnet school policy adoption on these two outcomes in Florida public school districts. I use four data sets for this study. The Common Core Data (CCD) is from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The lsat three datasets-- the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) data; the Florida School/District Indicators Report Data (FSID/FDID); and the Master School Identification (MSID) Data--are all from the Florida Department of Education (FLDoE). The study covers the years 2005-2011, and examines elementary, middle and high school levels. First of all, this study shows demographic trends in magnet, charter and TPSs, by school levels. In Florida, the numbers of students enrolled in magnet schools are increasing steadily, but student enrollment in TPSs is decreasing at all school levels. Generally White students decreased in all districts at all school levels, but Hispanic students increased in all districts at all school levels. The percentage of White students shows the highest percentages in districts without any school choice policies, while the percentages of Black and Hispanic students show the highest percentages in districts with both school choice policies. Student test scores in reading are the highest in districts with magnet school choice policy at all school levels, and student test scores in reading are the lowest in districts without school choice policy at all school levels. Student test scores in mathematics show the same results as the reading test results. However, after controlling for student characteristics, school and teacher characteristics, and district characteristics, the adoption of school choice policy has a negative influence on student performance at all school levels and in both of the subject fields of reading and mathematics, except for the reading score at the elementary level. This study shows the impacts from both magnet and charter school choice policies by utilizing a greater number of measures than prior research. Overall, school choice policy does not have a positive impact on either student performance or racial segregation. Rather, school choice policy has a negative impact on student performance, and charter school policy exacerbates racial segregation in school districts. This study also found that charter school policy exacerbates racial segregation in school districts, and magnet school policy has a significant positive impact on school segregation after controlling for district income inequality, economic status, demographic characteristics and district size. When considering that the use of magnet school policy has the purpose of racial desegregation, however, the impacts from magnet school policy are slight and marginal in Florida school districts.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-8881
Format: Thesis

Title: The Influence of Networks on Local Economic Development Performance.
Creator: Kim, Sangsoo, Feiock, Richard, Barrilleaux, Charles, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Lee, Keon-Hyung, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The research question guiding of this dissertation asks, "How and to what extent do network relations of a city with organizations within its community and external networks with external governmental and other development actors influence success in attracting jobs, business, and economic development?" Little to no empirical research has touched on the effects of a certain type of network on performance. Thus, this dissertation investigates whether the scope and type of networks (internal...
Show moreThe research question guiding of this dissertation asks, "How and to what extent do network relations of a city with organizations within its community and external networks with external governmental and other development actors influence success in attracting jobs, business, and economic development?" Little to no empirical research has touched on the effects of a certain type of network on performance. Thus, this dissertation investigates whether the scope and type of networks (internal and external networks) are related to the performance of economic development (e.g., change in the manufacturing employment, firms, investment). A transaction costs based theoretical framework is advances in which government's internal networks with organizations in the community and external networks with other governments and development actors influence the transaction costs of economic development. Network relationships are identified based on a national survey of cities conducted in 2004. Patterns of manufacturing development growth from 2002 to 2007 are estimated based on network structure, development policies, political structure, regional competition, and socioeconomic characteristics. Two sets of regression equations based on these models are estimated to test these hypotheses. The implications of the findings for research and practice will be discussed in the conclusion.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-5744
Format: Thesis

Title: The Influence of Actor Attributes and Social Relations on Game Transition: Formal Model and Empirical Analysis of Collective Action and Collaborative Economic Development Policy.
Creator: Lee, In Won, Feiock, Richard C., Scholz, John T., Yang, Keifeng, Lee, Keon-Hyung, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Economic development policy in jurisdictionally fragmented metropolitan areas is often characterized as a competitive environment in which local governments compete for jobs and growth. However, the positive and negative intergovernmental externalities from growth create demands for more integrated development approaches that can address economies of scale, urban sprawl, income inequality, environmental impacts, and other regional issues. This dissertation examines the formation of regional...
Show moreEconomic development policy in jurisdictionally fragmented metropolitan areas is often characterized as a competitive environment in which local governments compete for jobs and growth. However, the positive and negative intergovernmental externalities from growth create demands for more integrated development approaches that can address economies of scale, urban sprawl, income inequality, environmental impacts, and other regional issues. This dissertation examines the formation of regional economic development partnerships among local government to explain patterns of local government cooperation in pursuing economic development. The traditional game theoretic approach, based on assumptions that actors are motivated by rational calculation of benefits and costs, provides useful insights for understanding the essence of the collective action problem, but it provides only a limited and incomplete explanation for the emergence and sustainability of regional development collaboration. This dissertation investigates how the social context in which a game is embedded can determine which game the actors are supposed to play and, therefore, shapes the action of players. In other words, social structures should be considered to be both the medium and the outcome of the players' activities. A formal model of regional partnership formation is developed, taking into account actors' attributes and social relations. Propositions regarding how contextual and relational factors affect regional partnership formation are derived from this model and empirically tested.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3169
Format: Thesis

Title: The Political Economy of Hospice Care: Three Essays About End of Life Care.
Creator: Mendieta, Maximiliano, Eger, Robert J., De Haven-Smith, Lance, Losh, Susan C., Weissert, William G., Klay, William Earle, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida...
Show moreMendieta, Maximiliano, Eger, Robert J., De Haven-Smith, Lance, Losh, Susan C., Weissert, William G., Klay, William Earle, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Show less
Abstract/Description: Vast, but disparate, literatures study hospice care, but none explains how government policy affects the dying experience of terminally ill patients and their families. This topic is of the utmost significance as there are important unanswered questions that fall under the purview of public administration, and may be in conflict with its principles of truth, efficiency, effectiveness and equity. This dissertation is formatted as three related essays in the area of hospice care. The first...
Show moreVast, but disparate, literatures study hospice care, but none explains how government policy affects the dying experience of terminally ill patients and their families. This topic is of the utmost significance as there are important unanswered questions that fall under the purview of public administration, and may be in conflict with its principles of truth, efficiency, effectiveness and equity. This dissertation is formatted as three related essays in the area of hospice care. The first essay informs government policy in end-of-life care with insights from government policy in child care. The methodology consists of trend analysis in order to better understand the elder care choices of adult children who have elderly parents or relatives that need hospice care. The methodology is focused on married households and the data was extracted from the Current Population Survey (CPS). The study finds that married households in the middle income bracket are less likely to bring their elderly relatives into their homes as long as the Medicare hospice benefit remains a viable alternative to the demands that hospice care at home may impose on household income and in labor participation. Trend analysis of median household income and Child and Dependent Tax Credit demonstrate that the tax code can be an effective tool in promoting hospice care at home. The second essay studies how the Medicare Hospice Program affects the financial viability of the hospice organization, and in turn, affects the survival of terminally ill patients. The methodology consists of Panel-Corrected Standard Errors regression technique and focuses on the organizational effects rather than on the individual effects on length of stay. The study finds that the liquidity of the hospice organization and investment in human capital in the form of nurses influence how long a patient stays in hospice care. The assessment of the hospice organization's financial health is a novel development as well as beachhead for extending the theory of non-profit financial management into hospice care. The third and final essay analyzes whether government policy on aging has an effect on the distribution of firms, non-profit or for-profit, offering hospice care. The essay analyzes hospice care organizations from a population ecology perspective and tests a resource-partitioning model in order to explain the interorganizational relationships between generalist and specialist organizations. The methodology applied is fixed effects regression and the essay links the resources in the environment with the organization and patient outcomes. The study finds that the age of the generalist form of hospice organization providing core services increases the length of stay. This finding runs counter to the literature that promotes dying at home as the way to increase survival time during hospice care. The three essays share the goal of better understanding the effect that Medicare hospice policy has on the end of life. The end outcome of the essays show that government policy in the form of the Medicare hospice benefit may in fact undermine the hospice care philosophy or self-determination and dying in our own terms. This dissertation is the first to consider that government policy in the form of hospice care may have evolved into a health program that counters rather than supports the axioms of the hospice philosophy.
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-7508
Format: Thesis

Title: The Political Economy of Energy Based Green Economic Development: Policy Tools and Their Use for Local Energy Based Green Economic Development.
Creator: Ha, Hyunsang, Feiock, Richard C., Chapin, Timothy C., Berry, Frances S., Lee, Keon-Hyung, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Local economic development is in transition to "green economic development." Local governments in the U.S. and other countries have adopted a variety of policy tools to promote green economic development and are appying them to to their local economies. The success of these efforts may depend on whether local officials have a systematic understanding of green development and how it is different from more conventional economic development approaches. One purpose of this study is to enhance our...
Show moreLocal economic development is in transition to "green economic development." Local governments in the U.S. and other countries have adopted a variety of policy tools to promote green economic development and are appying them to to their local economies. The success of these efforts may depend on whether local officials have a systematic understanding of green development and how it is different from more conventional economic development approaches. One purpose of this study is to enhance our understanding of green development policy by advancing a theoretical framework and identifying empirical evidence to account for local green econmic development activities and policies. The most basic but essential task is to understand when and how policy tools are used. The factors influencing conventional economic development activities and green economic development activities are drawn from three explanatory approaches in the literature on urban policy and econmic development: the economic pressure model, the political/institutional choice model, and development/environmental coalition model. These explanatory models are adapted and extended to account for energy based green economic development policy including the promotion of energy efficient technology, promotion of renewable energy development, and regulatory relief targeted to energy efficincy and renewables. This investigation produces several potentially important findings. First, local decision makers' perceptions and motivations regarding the importance of green businesses and industries significantly influence the use of each of the four policy tools. Additionally, neighborhood and environmental protection organizations, which have not had much impact on conventional development, have a significant influence on green development policy. Also, a community's standard of living and collaborative activities for green development are linked to regulatory relief for energy efficient technology development by local governments. Some of the same factors that determine conventional economic development activities such as administrative capacity, economic stress, development competition, voters' preference, and support of private organizations also influence the use of green economic development policy tools. An unanticipated finding is that Florida citizens registered as members of the Democratic or Green Party in Florida are less likely to support incentives and regulatory relief for renewable energy development. This curious result may reflect factors unique to Florida or cleavages in environmental voting blocks over renewable energy. Certain renewable energy sources are controversial and are purported to generate energy sprawl and negative environmental externalities. In Florida, renewable energy policy may be associated with Republicans because incentives and regulatory relief have usually been favored tools of the Christ administration. Since 2006, the Republican Party in power has emphasized climate changes and promoted renewable energy development. This study concludes that the development incentives for local green economic development are the product of political bargainig and collective action among stakeholders, rather than a product of economic pressures or conditions. This is in stark contrast with regulatory relief for green economic development. While regulatory relief for the use of energy efficient technology is significantly influenced by economic pressure and conditions, regulatory relief for renewable energy development is substantially influenced by political choice and stakeholders' activities. Comparison of development incentives and regulatory relief also provides new insights. Incentives for energy efficient technology are influenced by political/institutional factors and stakeholders' power and roles. In contrast regulatory relief to promote energy efficient technology development is shaped more by community economic pressures and conditions. However, both incentives and regulatory relief for renewable energy development are influenced by political bargaining and the power of environmental advocacy coalitions. The conclusion urges local governments or decision makers to pay attention to the distinctions highlighted in this analysis in the design, adoption and implementation of policy tools for green economic development.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4347
Format: Thesis

Title: Politics, Institutions, and the Implementation of Growth Management Policy in Florida Cities.
Creator: Kang, In-Sung, Feiock, Richard C., Lloyd, Donald A., Berry, Frances, deHaven-Smith, Lance, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study originated from the following two questions: to what extent do city governments engage in policy actions to restrict development and manage growth; and how do local political institutions shape the restrictiveness of local growth management? To answer the questions, first of all, this dissertation identifies variations in the exercise of growth management powers across cities based on financial data gathered from fiscal reports filed with the Florida Comptroller, and policy...
Show moreThis study originated from the following two questions: to what extent do city governments engage in policy actions to restrict development and manage growth; and how do local political institutions shape the restrictiveness of local growth management? To answer the questions, first of all, this dissertation identifies variations in the exercise of growth management powers across cities based on financial data gathered from fiscal reports filed with the Florida Comptroller, and policy implementation/adoption data gathered in a mail survey conducted by the author in collaboration with Richard Feiock and Antonio Tavares. Information on city level political institutions and governing structures is gathered from the International City Management Association's (ICMA) 2001 Form of Government Survey. Based on information about growth management expenditure and policy adoption/implementation, this study examines a broad set of government institutions extended to include the size and organization of city councils and standing committees. This research focused on the implementation and exercise of discretionary powers as well as policy adoption in relation to growth management based on a political market approach. In the political market approach, focusing on the demander and supplier help us understand internal forces of growth management policy. Finally, acknowledging that the underlying theory of institutions in this work is applicable to cities, this study attempts to identify cities' spatial impact on expenditures for growth management. Referring to policy diffusion theory, we review the impact of neighboring cites' on comprehensive planning expenditure as identifying the internal and external forces by using of political market and spatial effect model. In this research, the followings are the core parts we focus on implementation of growth management policy: local comprehensive planning expenditures, zoning request approval, and policy enforcement of the innovative policies. We considered the role of local institutions as supplier, political economy demands, and municipal context. For the hypotheses tests, we employ three different kinds of statistical analysis: spatial regression, ordered probit, and probit analysis.
Show less
Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3353
Format: Thesis

Title: Evaluating Selected Examples of One State Legislative Chamber's Processes from the Perspective of Learning Organization Theory.
Creator: Moore, Edwin H., Klay, Earle, Holcombe, Randall, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Berry, Frances, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Argyris and Schon (1996, p.xvii) contend, "it is conventional wisdom that business firms, governments, nongovernmental organizations, schools, health care systems, regions…need to adapt to changing environments, draw lessons from past successes and failures, detect and correct the errors of the past, anticipate and respond to impending threats, conduct experiments, engage in continuing innovation, build and realize images of a desirable future." Argyris refers to this as "the learning...
Show moreArgyris and Schon (1996, p.xvii) contend, "it is conventional wisdom that business firms, governments, nongovernmental organizations, schools, health care systems, regions…need to adapt to changing environments, draw lessons from past successes and failures, detect and correct the errors of the past, anticipate and respond to impending threats, conduct experiments, engage in continuing innovation, build and realize images of a desirable future." Argyris refers to this as "the learning imperative." All of the organizations and tasks mentioned directly relate to the constant activities of a legislative body. These external actors, as described by Argyris, are engaged but outside the internal process. They seek to influence both process and final product, but now must do so in an environment of constant change due to the imposition of term limits. The legislative processes in the Florida House of Representatives consistently provide examples of single-loop learning. Errors and problems emerge, legislation is introduced, designed to provide remedy, and the cycle is repeated. But, according to Argyris (2000, p.4), "genuine learning involves an extra step, in which you reflect on your assumptions and test the validity of your hypothesis," which is characterized as double-loop learning, a critical ingredient for a learning organization. This paper identifies weaknesses in the learning activities of the Florida House of Representatives as well as impediments to the implementation of improved organizational learning processes. By using interviews with key actors it identifies the various factors that affect the policy consideration process in this setting, including frequent turnover of membership, leadership, staff leadership, and committee staffing and membership.
Show less
Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2314
Format: Thesis

Title: Effects of Rapid Urbanization on Livelihoods in the Peri-Urban Areas of Accra, Ghana.
Creator: Oduro, Charles Yaw, Doan, Petra, Cobbe, James, Chapin, Timothy, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Rapid urbanization in the Third World is one of the major developmental issues that have attracted the attention of policy makers at international, national and sub-national levels. However, emphasis on the distinction between rural and urban areas often causes policy makers and planners to lose sight of important rural-urban linkages that need to be considered in the research and policy-making/planning arenas. Rural-urban linkages are probably most evident in peri-urban areas where the...
Show moreRapid urbanization in the Third World is one of the major developmental issues that have attracted the attention of policy makers at international, national and sub-national levels. However, emphasis on the distinction between rural and urban areas often causes policy makers and planners to lose sight of important rural-urban linkages that need to be considered in the research and policy-making/planning arenas. Rural-urban linkages are probably most evident in peri-urban areas where the growth of cities leads to the transformation of smaller communities. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of rapid urbanization on livelihoods in the peri-urban areas of Accra, Ghana, using the case study approach. The study focused on four of the peri-urban communities that surround the city of Accra, namely Kwashiekuma, Medie, Bortianor and Ofankor. It involved a qualitative analysis of the effects of the city's growth on the livelihood assets of residents in these communities; how the residents construct livelihood strategies in response to changes in livelihood assets; and how these changes are reflected in their livelihood outcomes (quality of life). The study has revealed several changes in livelihood assets resulting from urban expansion. These include: an increase in the range of uses and value of land and other forms of natural capital; extension of urban infrastructure (e.g. roads, electricity, private schools and health facilities) to peri-urban areas; an increase in the size and variation in the quality of the housing stock; and increased acquisition of formal education and non-agricultural vocational skills. In addition, the communal spirit that characterizes indigenous, rural communities and enable residents to extend mutual support to one another in times of need has declined in peri-urban communities, although some residents, particularly recent migrants, are able to maintain social capital that goes beyond their immediate place of residence. Residents and non-residents of peri-urban communities respond to these new opportunities by devising new livelihood strategies. Examples include the leasing of land to developers and other investors, extraction of natural resources such as stones and sand, agricultural intensification, waged employment, trading, diversification of employment and income sources, among others. However, the study also shows that there are differential effects of urbanization on the livelihoods and living conditions of peri-urban residents. While some residents have the ability to improve upon their living conditions by taking advantage of the opportunities created by urbanization, many others are worse off because they lack the capacity to utilize these opportunities. This negative effect is particularly serious among subsistence farmers, who are mainly indigenous and long-term settlers who lose their livelihoods as arable lands get converted to residential and other uses. The findings of the study point to a number of critical issues that need the urgent attention of policy makers and planners in order to ensure sustainable urban development. One of them is the need for the District Assemblies (local governments) to manage physical growth in a manner that protects the natural environment using a joint, multi-level participatory planning approach. The Assemblies should also incorporate peri-urban livelihood issues into urban policy making and planning so as to minimize the negative effects of urban growth on a section of the population, especially subsistence farmers. Measures should include the protection of fertile farmlands, helping farmers to adopt appropriate and environmentally friendly farming methods, and empowering the youth to find alternative sources of livelihood. Other pertinent issues needing attention include the need to improve upon land administration and strengthen the planning and regulatory capacity of District Assemblies.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-4634
Format: Thesis

Title: The Enigmatic Consequences of Security and Development Aid: Evidence from Pakistan.
Creator: Obaid, Zia, Brower, Ralph S., McDowell, Stephen D., Berry, Frances Stokes, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, School...
Show moreObaid, Zia, Brower, Ralph S., McDowell, Stephen D., Berry, Frances Stokes, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, School of Public Administration and Policy
Show less
Abstract/Description: This research contemplates the influence of donors' security concerns on humanitarian aid and development. The phenomenon has been referred in the literature with various titles including securitization of aid, politics of aid, security-aid nexus and securitizing human development. While the extant literature delves into the impact and influence of securitization of aid on humanitarian development and its undermining effects on voluntary sector; this study explores the phenomenon from the...
Show moreThis research contemplates the influence of donors' security concerns on humanitarian aid and development. The phenomenon has been referred in the literature with various titles including securitization of aid, politics of aid, security-aid nexus and securitizing human development. While the extant literature delves into the impact and influence of securitization of aid on humanitarian development and its undermining effects on voluntary sector; this study explores the phenomenon from the perspective of the aid recipients with the assumption that the recipients' outlook and beliefs regarding the donors' intentions and motives influence the effectiveness of the humanitarian aid. The study contributes towards the development literature by identifying the factors shaping the perception of the aid recipients about donors and NGOs. The factors, thus explored, are going to facilitate the work of the humanitarian aid agencies in a politically hostile or conflict riddled societies and may also prove beneficial for policy makers. The data depicts that the culture and institutions of the region plays an important role in shaping the recipients' perceptions of donors and NGOs and that if due consideration is given to these elements it may help rebuilding societal trust on humanitarian efforts. This study employs Bourdieu's theorization of capital and its role in determining power within the society. The premise is that actors can use the capital possessed by them for acquiring other types of capital possessed by other actors in the field and thus can improve their position within the field. Thus, the economic capital of the donors can be utilized to earn social capital and cultural capital possessed by local NGOs.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-9423
Format: Thesis

Title: Environmental Local Public Goods: Open Space Preservation and Multi-Level Analysis.
Creator: Lee, Se Jin, Feiock, Richard C., Herrington, Carolyn, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Lee, Keon-Hyung, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Open space preservation is a critical issue responding to undesirable sprawl. Over the past decades, responding to such trends of expansion and sprawl, open space protection has become more intense. Thus, local, regional, state governments have become increasingly concerned with growth and land preservation. More explicitly, state growth management has implemented in a broad set of social goals and policy tools in the era of smart growth (Bosselman and Callies, 1971; Gillham, 2002). State...
Show moreOpen space preservation is a critical issue responding to undesirable sprawl. Over the past decades, responding to such trends of expansion and sprawl, open space protection has become more intense. Thus, local, regional, state governments have become increasingly concerned with growth and land preservation. More explicitly, state growth management has implemented in a broad set of social goals and policy tools in the era of smart growth (Bosselman and Callies, 1971; Gillham, 2002). State smart growth has concentrated on a mix of higher density residential development in order to protect open space and natural resources (Ingram et al, 2009). At local level, growth management has been implemented through the planning and regulatory tools of comprehensive plans, zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, and capital improvement programs (Porter, 1997). Despite open space preservation is a political process, extant studies on the decision of land preservation fail to consider within political process. The purpose of this dissertation investigates what factors account for local open space preservation applying political market framework. First analysis aims to examine the impact of state growth management on local open space preservation as well as the impact of the contextual factors of county governments More specifically, with advanced methodology, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), it examines whether strong involvement of state level government influence open space protection made by local level governments. Second analysis examines how local political institutions' supplies and environmental interests' demands account for local open space protection with panel data of Florida Communities Trust (FCT) applications, Florida's state-wide land acquisition program, from 2001 to 2008. The empirical results show that, first, strong involvement of state government on local open space preservation leads to better outcomes. It theoretically and empirically means that contextual and political circumstances of state level government perform an additional explanation on the variation among county level. Second, local political institutions play a significant role in open space preservation. In addition to formal institution, networks as an informal institution are key driver of open space preservation. This result implies that governmental partners such as federal and states agencies and horizontal partners such as land trusts, environmental organization and non-profit organization are important in that local government can make wider array of financing mechanisms and get much of information from networks with governmental and horizontal partners. Third, environmental preservation constituencies measured by land trusts in the first analysis and environmental specialty license tag revenue in the second analysis have positive influence on open space preservation. Unlike land use regulation, development or growth machine interests have no influence on open space preservation. In sum, this dissertation confirms that strong involvement of state government influences the effort of local government on open space preservation. Open space preservation is the outcome of political institutions and environmental demands. This dissertation also suggests future study. First, future study will explore the link between open space preservation and various regulatory tools or strategies such as zoning ordinance, conservation easement, impact fees, and so on, to growth control. Another future study will be a national-wide study how state level government influences the outcome of local government with Intercept-As-Outcome Modeling. This study must provide in-depth and better understanding of dynamics of configuration of policy outcome. Networks are critical element of open space preservation and more broadly smart growth and sustainable development. Thus, Network analysis will examine relationships between public, private, and nonprofit actors, such as the Trust for Public Lands to investigate the role of both formal and informal institutions in configuring open space preservation and land acquisition decisions.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3148
Format: Thesis

Title: Ethnic Identity and Psychological Adjustment: Chinese Youth in the U.S..
Creator: Ren, Jianhong, Readdick, Christine A., Mullis, Ronald L., Roehrig, Alysia D., Department of Family and Child Sciences, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: The purpose of the study is to examine the relation between the ethnic identity status and other-group orientation of Chinese young adolescent immigrants who currently live in the U. S. and their psychological adjustment. Psychological adjustment is reflected by two indicators: self-esteem and depression. From four selected cities, twenty-three 12-15 years old Chinese immigrant youth who were born in China and currently lived in the U. S. participated in the study. The results indicate that...
Show moreThe purpose of the study is to examine the relation between the ethnic identity status and other-group orientation of Chinese young adolescent immigrants who currently live in the U. S. and their psychological adjustment. Psychological adjustment is reflected by two indicators: self-esteem and depression. From four selected cities, twenty-three 12-15 years old Chinese immigrant youth who were born in China and currently lived in the U. S. participated in the study. The results indicate that Chinese youth immigrants with higher ethnic identity have higher self-esteem and lower depression. The results also indicate that Chinese youth immigrants' ethnic identity is more relevant to their psychological adjustment than other-group orientation.
Show less
Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1887
Format: Thesis

Title: Examining the Determinants of Charter School Expansion and the Relationship of Charter Schools and District Performance Using Event History Analysis and Cross Sectional Modeling.
Creator: Lassila, Nathan E. (Nathan Eric), Berry, Frances Stokes, Iatarola, Patrice, Feiock, Richard, DeHaven-Smith, Lance, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State...
Show moreLassila, Nathan E. (Nathan Eric), Berry, Frances Stokes, Iatarola, Patrice, Feiock, Richard, DeHaven-Smith, Lance, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Show less
Abstract/Description: Charter schools represent one of many choice options available to Florida school districts. While public choice theory may provide insight as to why choice should impact student performance, using two research stages, this paper examines empirically factors leading to charter school adoption and the relationship of increasing charter schools on district academic performance. Results of this research indicate that, increasing middle school class size and emulation of neighboring adopters are...
Show moreCharter schools represent one of many choice options available to Florida school districts. While public choice theory may provide insight as to why choice should impact student performance, using two research stages, this paper examines empirically factors leading to charter school adoption and the relationship of increasing charter schools on district academic performance. Results of this research indicate that, increasing middle school class size and emulation of neighboring adopters are statistically significant factors in a districts' charter school policy adoption. True emulation as specified by diffusion literature may be suspect due to the advent of choice alternatives in Florida prior to the law that allowed districts to formally adopt charters as a choice policy. Thus, the choice may not have diffused from early adopters to laggards, but rather via a burst of adopters who had been waiting for an opportunity. Further, cross sectional modeling provides slight or weak evidence that increases in charter schools is positively associated with academic performance in districts.
Show less
Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3267
Format: Thesis

Title: Examining Organization Learning in Public Sector Organizations: From the Perspective of Floirida Municipal Governments.
Creator: Jang, Hoseok, Berry, Frances Stokes, Ueno, Koji, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Yang, Kaifeng, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: Public sector organizations currently operate in an environment of change and choice (Berry, 2007). In particular, the complex governance and unpredictable nature of the contemporary public sector environment have challenged governments' attempts to improve their performance and accountability. Organizational learning is the key to performance improvement in changing and uncertain environments (Argyris and Schon, 1996; Schein, 1993) because it is based on new knowledge development or...
Show morePublic sector organizations currently operate in an environment of change and choice (Berry, 2007). In particular, the complex governance and unpredictable nature of the contemporary public sector environment have challenged governments' attempts to improve their performance and accountability. Organizational learning is the key to performance improvement in changing and uncertain environments (Argyris and Schon, 1996; Schein, 1993) because it is based on new knowledge development or performance information use, which in turn enables managers to make better decisions to improve performance. In this respect, organizational learning is an important component of the current performance management reforms or managing for results, which focus on collecting, distributing, and using performance information to improve government organizations' performance. Although organizational learning is a critical domain in performance management, empirical understanding of organizational learning in the public sector settings is limited. Thus, this study attempts to advance both theoretical and empirical research on organizational learning in the public sector, using data from the Organizational Learning and Performance Management Survey 2010: Florida Municipal Governments. The overall research question of this dissertation is: what factors influence organizational learning in Florida municipal governments? In particular, this study attempts to assess if there are differences in the antecedents of single-loop and double-loop learning. In this study, therefore, we use two dependent variables which consist of indicators for single-loop and double-loop learning respectively, in our models to examine a facilitative environment or condition for organizational learning. To answer this research question, based on past research, this study develops a theory composed of six factors to assess what seems to impact single and double-loop learning based on: 1) structural factors, 2) cultural factors, 3) learning forums, 4) performance management systems, 5) network characteristics, and 6) external stakeholder's participation. We found strong support for our organizational learning models, and variables representing each of the six theoretical factors were significant. Research results indicated that there are some different patterns of effects and different impacts for single-loop and double-loop learning. The goal and mission orientation, strategic planning, external networks, and political officials' participation are facilitative factors to double-loop learning but do not have a significant relationship to single-loop learning, while the utilization of IT is important to single-loop learning but not to double-loop learning. Moreover, the impacts of decentralization, risk-taking culture, and learning forums are stronger in double-loop learning than in single-loop learning, while the impact of internal network is greater on single-loop learning than on double-loop learning. Low formalization, resources, and benchmarking, however, were unexpectedly found to have negative relationships with at least one type of organizational learning. Moreover, we found the mediating effect of single-loop learning on double-loop learning. Overall, the findings provide insight into antecedents of and strategies for fostering single-loop and double-loop learning, and ultimately performance improvement of local governments.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-3553
Format: Thesis

Title: Exploring Instrumental and Expressive Dimensions: Adapted Origin of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations.
Creator: Lu, Wenjue, Brower, Ralph S., Doan, Petra, deHaven-Smith, Lance, Guy, Mary E., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: In a recent conception, Frumkin (2002) identified expressive and instrumental activities as distinct functions of nonprofit/voluntary organizations, employing them as one component of a two-dimensional classificatory scheme to frame the conceptual universe of nonprofit/voluntary sector activities. The first dimension in this model is "supply" versus "demand." The second dimension in this model is "expressive" versus "instrumental." (Frumkin, 2002, p. 22). At one end of this dimension is the...
Show moreIn a recent conception, Frumkin (2002) identified expressive and instrumental activities as distinct functions of nonprofit/voluntary organizations, employing them as one component of a two-dimensional classificatory scheme to frame the conceptual universe of nonprofit/voluntary sector activities. The first dimension in this model is "supply" versus "demand." The second dimension in this model is "expressive" versus "instrumental." (Frumkin, 2002, p. 22). At one end of this dimension is the notion that nonprofit/voluntary organizations serve an instrumental purpose in meeting needs that the community values. At the other end of this dimension is a justification for these organizations in that they provide an expressive outlet for participants' commitment to particular values and beliefs. Our study extends and elucidates the expressive-instrumental dimension. This study explores three research questions. (1) What are the expressive and instrumental dimensions in nonprofit and voluntary organizations, and what forms do these activities take in nonprofit and voluntary organizations? (2) What is the relationship between the expressive and instrumental dimensions? (3) How do nonprofit and voluntary organizations manage the expressive and instrumental dimensions in order to survive and grow? How are these two dimensions managed in successful practices? Qualitative grounded analysis is adopted. Data are collected through long interviews. The data reveal tension between the expressive energy and various instrumental features across levels of analysis among different actors. First is a tension between individuals' expression and individual self-interested needs. Individual expression is demonstrated by volunteering, lower financial compensation, and contribution to the community, which is in contrast with individuals' actions to satisfy self-interests that are rational, purposive, transactional and instrumental. A second tension is demonstrated between organizations' expressive institutional features, defined as localism, autonomy, and a growth dynamic, and the instrumental institutional features of the government funders, including public accountability and procedures. A third tension is between the inner need to thrive driven by organizational expression and external private resource suppliers' instrumental, self-interested, rational, and limited support. Fourth, we describe tension at an inter-organizational level and a macro environmental level. Organizations compete with each other for limited resources in order to avoid elimination. Organizations also cooperate to maximize capacity and consolidate resources and achieve shared expressive ends â serving the community and values and beliefs. Finally, the study illustrates exogenous forces from macro environmental factors including popular culture, government policy orientation, and changing demographics, which also impose instrumental force on organizations. These four tensions share a common theme -- that is, how organizations' expressive nature accommodates the instrumental features from various sources: individuals, government, private resources, the "market," and macro external factors. Upon this common theme, we induce the theory of adapted origin of nonprofit and voluntary organizations, which states that the life of nonprofit and voluntary organizations are determined by the level of adaptation of the expressive dimension to the instrumental dimension. The theory suggests that, in contrast to Mark Granovetter's notion of embeddedness, refering to economic actions as embedded in social relationships (1985), we discover "adaptiveness," which describes how expressive actions are adapted to instrumental relationships. Also associated with social origins theory, the adapted origin theory takes a micro organizational analysis approach, while the social origins theory takes a national level approach.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1021
Format: Thesis

Title: Exploring the Effects of Social Capital on Police Performance in U.S. Cities.
Creator: Choi, Cheon Geun, Berry, Frances Stokes, Barrilleaux, Charles J., Eger, Robert J., Yang, Kaifeng, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: This study explores the relationship between social capital and police performance. Since substantial academic interest in social capital emerged, many studies demonstrate that social capital has a significant influence on social and political outcomes. Despite the renewed interest in examining the role of social capital in the field of public safety, critics have pointed to several limitations: (1) the ways in which social capital variables are defined and measured; (2) the ways in which...
Show moreThis study explores the relationship between social capital and police performance. Since substantial academic interest in social capital emerged, many studies demonstrate that social capital has a significant influence on social and political outcomes. Despite the renewed interest in examining the role of social capital in the field of public safety, critics have pointed to several limitations: (1) the ways in which social capital variables are defined and measured; (2) the ways in which police performance variables are defined and measured; (3) the lack of specific theoretical propositions linking these two constructs; and (4) the lack of empirical work at the city level. This dissertation addresses these limitations by modeling causal mechanisms linking eleven dimensions of social capital and four types of police performance using two competing explanations: citizen demand and citizen supply. According to citizen demand explanations, communities with high social capital are more likely to demand that their police departments do the job more efficiently and more effectively. Citizen supply explanations, however, suggest that social capital may facilitate informal social control mechanisms to reduce crime and delinquency. The divergence lies in the way the two explanations see citizens' roles in police duties, as demanders or co-producers of public goods and services. Based on these two streams of explanations, this study proposes eight testable hypotheses regarding the relationships between social capital and police performance and employs ordinary regression analysis (OLS). In addition, in order to take into account potential endogeneity problems between social capital and outcome-related police performance, this study also proposes four non-recursive models and employs a two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression analysis. To measure each of the constructs of social capital and police performance, this study uses the data of the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey by Harvard University, the Uniform Crime Reports of the FBI, and the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, yielding a cross-sectional data set with 44 U.S. cities in the year 2000. This study presents theoretically and practically significant implications regarding the causal relationships between social capital and police performance. First, the findings support the multi-dimensionality of social capital and show that the results of the analyses are mixed with regard to each of the four types of police performance. These findings are contrary to the traditional wisdom that social capital is equally positively related to any type of government performance in general and police performance in specific. Second, the results of the analyses with the disaggregated four types of police performance variables show that social capital is a useful concept for explaining the different levels of outcome for police performance across local police departments, yet less useful a concept for explaining the efficiency within government bureaucracy. Third, with regard to causal mechanisms, there are no overarching theories which account for every performance practice in police administration. For outcome-related police performance, social capital may work; for output-related police performance, it may not. Lastly, the non-recursive analyses further underscore the complexities of the interrelationships between the dimensions of social capital and police performance. The results of the study also have some important implications. First, the findings, in general, suggest that police administrators should think more about their relationship with citizens and consider citizens as consumers as well as co-producers of public safety. Second, this study also reinforces the basic tenet of community policing strategies, suggesting collaborative partnership between police and citizens. Third, this study provides an opportunity to rethink the criteria for the success of police service effectiveness or performance, and suggests that there is no one explanation for the effect of social capital on police performance.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-1024
Format: Thesis

Title: Florida's Community Hospitals: Service Delivery Choices and Policy Implications.
Creator: Crowell, Elsie Bradwell, Guy, Mary E., Cowart, Marie, Bradley, Robert, deHaven-Smith, Lance, School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: During the past quarter century, efforts have been made to control rising hospital costs, which are the largest component of U.S. health care expenditures. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship among five community characteristics and hospital ownership types; determine whether there are differences in operational performance (cost and efficiency) between private nonprofit and private for-profit hospitals; and propose an answer to the question - Why do local governments...
Show moreDuring the past quarter century, efforts have been made to control rising hospital costs, which are the largest component of U.S. health care expenditures. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship among five community characteristics and hospital ownership types; determine whether there are differences in operational performance (cost and efficiency) between private nonprofit and private for-profit hospitals; and propose an answer to the question - Why do local governments contract-manage their hospital operation? Using a mixed-method research design, the findings are: (1) there are mixed results in the relationship between community characteristics and hospital ownership types; (2) there are no significant differences in operational performance of private nonprofit and private for-profit hospitals; and (3) hospitals pursue contract management services to gain hospital management expertise, financial management, medical and information technology, and human resource management and recruitment. The implications of this study calls for a broader examination of operational performance among hospital ownership types and policy direction on the goals and mission of a public private venture such as contract management.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2984
Format: Thesis

Title: Fiscal Strain and Decision Making in Local Government: How Practitioners Meet Both Political and Practical Objectives.
Creator: Vonasek, Joseph, Klay, Wm. Earle, Herrington, Carolyn, Bowman, James S., deHaven-Smith, Lance, Eger, Robert J., Matkin, David S. T., School of Public Administration and Policy,...
Show moreVonasek, Joseph, Klay, Wm. Earle, Herrington, Carolyn, Bowman, James S., deHaven-Smith, Lance, Eger, Robert J., Matkin, David S. T., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Show less
Abstract/Description: The literature on decision-making in public organizations is replete with debate on how they pursue expenditure reductions in conditions of fiscal strain. Typically, their strategies are described as being either "across-the-board" or "targeted" and that these strategies are employed for both political and organizational reasons. This dissertation supports the concept that practitioners' responses to fiscal strain are likely to encompass both strategies. Florida counties' fiscal decision...
Show moreThe literature on decision-making in public organizations is replete with debate on how they pursue expenditure reductions in conditions of fiscal strain. Typically, their strategies are described as being either "across-the-board" or "targeted" and that these strategies are employed for both political and organizational reasons. This dissertation supports the concept that practitioners' responses to fiscal strain are likely to encompass both strategies. Florida counties' fiscal decision making is analyzed in this dissertation by applying the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index (HHI) to statutorily mandated uniform classifications of expenditures, adjusted for inflation and population growth. Changes in the mean and median HHI values during and following the implementation of the state's Amendment 1 tax and expenditure limitation are compared to the HHIs for preceding years. Descriptive analysis employing socio-economic, demographic, and organizational differences portray the effects of fiscal strain on counties' expenditure decision strategies. This dissertation uses a Most Similar Systems Comparative Design, minimizing the extent to which experimental variables affect the outcomes of analysis. Its underlying premise is that Florida counties' response to fiscal strain is comparable to one another and derives from their mutual commitment to a statutorily regulated budgeting and accounting system in response to revenue decreases of a known scale imposed on a specific date. Functionally, it postulates the use of different expenditure reduction strategies in response to fiscal strain is evident when observed from the viewpoints of the (macro) programmatic perspective and the contrasting (micro) perspective of individual objects of expenditure.
Show less
Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-8653
Format: Thesis

Title: Explaining State Government Administrative Reform: Fosucing on Performance-Based Budgeting and State Executive Branch Reorganization.
Creator: Park, Chang-Soo, Chackerian, Richard, Berry, William D., Brower, Ralph, Feiock, Richard C., School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University
Abstract/Description: What are the causes of administrative reform? Even though the question is critical in understanding administrative reform efforts and their impacts on administration and society, much remains to be understood about this process. In this dissertation, I will examine the following research question : What accounts for the occurrence of two types of state-level administrative reform - the adoption of performance-based budgeting legislation and comprehensive state executive branch reorganization ...
Show moreWhat are the causes of administrative reform? Even though the question is critical in understanding administrative reform efforts and their impacts on administration and society, much remains to be understood about this process. In this dissertation, I will examine the following research question : What accounts for the occurrence of two types of state-level administrative reform - the adoption of performance-based budgeting legislation and comprehensive state executive branch reorganization ? I focus on these reforms because they are core administrative reform processes. More importantly, the examination of two reforms within a single study provides an opportunity to examine the differences in the adoption prospects and process (Chackerian and Mavima, 2001). Administrative reform matters. Government structural reorganization has been used to cope with rising fiscal stress, the lack of managerial control over state bureaucracies (Franklin, 2000; Gortner, Mabler, & Nicholson, 1997; Meier,1980), and is not infrequently part of the political rhetoric in campaigns (Garnet 1980; Chackerian 1996). Budget reform also has been used to cope with economic and fiscal pressures, citizen demands for better program outcomes and low taxes (Berry, Brower, & Flowers, 2000). Administrative arrangements are crucial since they affect "who gets what" and the flow of costs and benefits over time. They have distributional consequences among interested actors (Feiock & Stream, 1998). My framework attempts to integrate the micro level political market approach with macro perspectives that point to the importance of external forces. There are diverse administrative reform theoretical perspectives. In my view, administrative reform can be explained in terms of the political market in which elected officials provide administrative reform to constituents based on their costs and benefits and constituents supply political support based on their costs and benefits (Feiock & Stream, 1988; Keohane, Revesz, & Stavins, 1997; Dixit, 1996). However, these micro aspects of the political market are embedded in macro environmental forces such as institutions and more general socio-economic conditions (Chackerian, 1996; DiMaggio & Powell, 1983; Berry & Berry, 1990). Therefore it is important to consider the macro environmental forces as well as the micro political market factors simultaneously. The units of analysis for this study are forty-eight U.S. continental states. Annual data for each of the variables in this study were collected for 48 U.S. continental states for the 17-year time period 1980 to 1996. The reason why I choose the year 1980 is related to "new federalism" and the beginning of the Reagan administration. From that time, not only were federal grants to states severely cut, but also states played more important roles in the federal system. This new trend, the so-called "Resurgence of the States" (Bowman, 1998) or "New Federalism" (Dye, 1990), provide the ideal context to study state government activities in terms of administrative reform. In addition, I choose 48 U.S. continental states to capture neighboring state effects on administrative reform. To answer the research question of what accounts for state administrative reform, I will integrate both the micro and macro factors and also consider the interaction effects among the factors. Micro factors are elements in the political market in which political exchange occurs between demand-side forces such as individual tax burden, conservative citizen ideology, fiscal stress, bureaucratic density, and business density and supply-side forces such as institutional turnover, conservative government ideology, unified government, and electoral competition. However, these micro factors do not exist in a vacuum, but are embedded in more broad macro forces. In this model, I consider four macro forces such as neighbor adoption, professional organization density, economic growth, and population density. In addition, I expect some interaction effects between the micro and macro factors. I used Event History Analysis as statistical method of my research. Based on the analysis, I found several important factors that have effects on the adoption of administrative reform some in common for both reforms, some unique to each. The factor that is common to both types of administrative reform is individual tax. Unique factors in regard to budgeting are: bureaucratic density, legislative turnover, and electoral competition. The adoption of performance budget reform occurs less when the power of bureaucracy is greater, more when there is legislative turnover and less when electoral competition is high. In contrast to the adoption of performance budget reform, the unique adoption factors for reorganization are conservative government ideology and higher population density. The power of bureaucracy has statistically significant and negative effect on the adoption of performance budget reform, while it does not have significant effect on the adoption of state executive branch reorganization. Legislative turnover has statistically significant and positive effect on the adoption of performance budget reform, but does not have significant effect on the adoption of state executive branch reorganization. Also, electoral competition has statistically significant and negative effect on the adoption of performance budget reform, but does not have statistically significant effect on the adoption of state executive branch reorganization. Even the patterns of interaction effects are somewhat unique for each of these reforms. There are no significant interaction effects in the model of performance budget reform. However, there are a few significant interaction effects in the model of state executive branch reorganization including neighbor adoption /unified government and economic growth / legislative turnover. These differences in the adoption processes might have important implications for a theory of administrative reform implementation. As Chackerian & Mavima (2001) and Matland (1995) suggest, different types of reforms lead to different factors being influential. This analysis is suggestive of the fact that the dynamics and influences on "administrative reform" may be very different depending on the nature of the reform.
Show less
Date Issued: 2003
Identifier: FSU_migr_etd-2292
Format: Thesis

First Baptist Church of Tallahassee Collection (2034)	+ -
Theses and Dissertations (339)	+ -
Digitized Theses and Dissertations 1952-2002 (200)	+ -
Florida Handbooks (33)	+ -
John House Stereograph Collection (23)	+ -

Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health (15)	+ -
Undergraduate Honors Theses (7)	+ -
J. Barry Mittan Photograph Collection, 1965-1971 (5)	+ -
Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (4)	+ -
Florida Book Collection (3)	+ -
FSU Historic Photographs (3)	+ -
Series B: Claude Pepper in Groups (3)	+ -
College of Social Work (2)	+ -
Department of Urban and Regional Planning (2)	+ -
Doak S. Campbell Collection (2)	+ -
Sir Leon Radzinowicz Papers (2)	+ -
Bradford-Eppes Family Collection (2)	+ -
Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine and Law (1)	+ -
Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine (1)	+ -
Department of Biomedical Sciences (1)	+ -
Department of Clinical Sciences (1)	+ -
Department of Geriatrics (1)	+ -
Paul A.M. Dirac Collection (1)	+ -
Florida Government Documents (1)	+ -
Charles R. Mathews Papers on Medicare Implementation (1)	+ -
P.T. Barnum (1)	+ -
Historical Undergraduate Honors Theses (1)	+ -

Publications (2035)	+ -
Baptist churches (2034)	+ -
Public administration (133)	+ -
Public policy (129)	+ -
Political Science, Public Administration (102)	+ -

Rivers (55)	+ -
Sociology, Public and Social Welfare (45)	+ -
Education (41)	+ -
History (37)	+ -
Cities and towns (35)	+ -
Airplanes (33)	+ -
Attorneys general (33)	+ -
Capitols (33)	+ -
Citrus fruit industry (33)	+ -
Climate (33)	+ -
Executive departments (33)	+ -
Governors (33)	+ -
History and Government (33)	+ -
Hurricanes (33)	+ -
Municipal government (33)	+ -
Museums (33)	+ -
Secretaries of State (State governments) (33)	+ -
State trees (33)	+ -
Statistics (33)	+ -
Truck farming (33)	+ -
Agriculture (32)	+ -
Banks and banking (32)	+ -
Congresses and conventions (32)	+ -
Constitutions, State (32)	+ -
Courts (32)	+ -

Everglades National Park (Fla.) (33)	+ -
Florida (Battleship) (33)	+ -
United States. Forest Service (33)	+ -
Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward) (32)	+ -
Florida State University (5)	+ -

Search In

Pages

Pages

Sort Results By:

Narrow results by:

Collection

Topical Subject

Name as Subject

Geographic Subject

Temporal Subject

Genre Subject

Genre

Type of Resource

Language

Creator

Format

Found In

Location

Owner

Florida (50)	+ -
United States (34)	+ -
States (33)	+ -
Africa (1)	+ -
Anderson County (1)	+ -

Leaflets (2034)	+ -
text (202)	+ -
Book (32)	+ -
Photographs (28)	+ -
Photomechanical prints (23)	+ -

text (2452)	+ -
still image (33)	+ -

English (2386)	+ -
Spanish (1)	+ -