|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
Issues Click here to view the Spring 2008 issue (pdf) Click here to view the Spring 2007 issue (pdf)
On March 23, 2007, Jessica A. Defenderfer and Scott A. Olson had the
opportunity to sit down with AARP's CEO, Bill Novelli, to discuss the
upcoming policy challenges associated with the retirement of the baby
boom generation, the role of the U.S. government in addressing these
policy needs, and the responsibility of AARP in crafting effective
public policy.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and America's engagement
in the Global War on Terror have added urgency to long-standing
Congressional efforts to strengthen the country's system for
establishing personal identification. Randolph examines the REAL ID
Act of 2005, which legislates uniform requirements for state drivers'
licenses. She describes the way the REAL ID Act became law and is
being implemented by the executive branch and outlines the objections
of state and local government officials to its driver's license
provisions.
Katrina: It Reshaped the Gulf Coast - How Will It Reshape Washington, D.C.?
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two of the most powerful storms in history, devasted the Gulf Coast region in 2005. These natural disasters not only destroyed lives, neighborhoods and communities but also challenged the local, state and federal governments' emergency response infrastructure. Uniformly Protecting U.S. Workers from the Health Risks of Second-Hand Smoke The Private Finance Initiative is an innovative public-private partnership first pioneered in the United Kingdom. The initiative's goal is to obtain higher quality public services at a lower cost to the public by engaging the private sector. The program relies on private financing and expertise, output-based contract specifications, performance-based payment mechanisms, and negotiated risk transfers to achieve this goal. This article discusses the initiative's success and failures, using Her Majesty's Prison Services, as a case study. The article finds that, while the program has limitations, the evidence of its successes suggests that American administrators should consider it as a procurement tool for public services in the United States. The Private Finance Initiative: An Innovative Procurement Tool for Today's Public Administrators A preponderance of evidence conclusively demonstrates the severe health risk posed by second-hand smoke, or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). While this evidence has led to the passage of indoor smoking bans in office buildings and many other indoor public places, in many states, workeers in the hospitality industry still face toxic second hand smoke every time they go to work. This article argues tat policymakers must develop comprehensive smoke-free legislation for all indoor public spaces, including all indoor workplaces. Contrary to the arguments put forth by restaurant and tobacco industry groups, indoor smoking bans significantly diminish public health risks, provide equitable protection for all workers, increase healthcare and productivity savings, and have minimal, if any, negative economic impact on businesses and overall tax revenues. Washington, D.C.'s experience illustrates how policymakers can pass this vital public health legislation despite procedural roadblocks and interest group politics. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, officials at all levels of government were focused with difficult policy decisions concerning public security. Many policymakers were asked to make security decisions based on limited information about the nature or credibility of potential threats. Using San Francisco as a case study, this article applies the technique of cost-benefit analysis to a hypothetical decision by that city to raise its threat level—in Homeland Security terms—to go from "yellow to orange." The article demonstrates how a policymaker might conduct a cost-benefit analysis when the benefits and costs of a decision are contingent on the unknown probability of an even occurring. This analysis highlights the importance of information-sharing between levels of government and demonstrates the affect of a policy decision on the probability of terrorist attack. The lessons learned provide important insights for the many government officials currently facing risk-dependent policy decisions.
Cultivating Effecive Practices in Government Management and Policy-making: Summary of an Interview with Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner On March 31, 2005, The Editor-in-Chief of Policy Perspectives had the opportunity to speak with Governor Mark R. Warner of Virginia about his tenure as the state's chief exectutive. The conversation focused on Virginia's success in government management, the relationship between federal and state-level policy, and the responsibilities of professions in the field of public policy.
An Examination of the Gendered Effects of Trade Liberalization This article explores an emerging argument that traditional definitions of trade liberalization actually hinder or even reverse women's gains in the worldwide marketplace. The article begins by exposing some of the flaws in traditional economic theories that lead to an overemphasis on statistical indicators of growth, rather than more holistic measures of progress that consider socioeconomic status of poorer countries' citizens, most notably women. The author purports that, in reality, women who have taken jobs in the factories and fields, created as a result of outsourcing by developed countries' trade liberalization policies, face a declining ability to provide valuable, although largel ignored, informal wor, including raising children and providing domestic care for their households. The value of this informal work to the global economy is estimated to be in the trillions of dollars. The author concludes by offering recommendations for future research into the effects of trade liberalization on women and the effects of lost informal, or domestic, work in the global economy.
The Challenge of Defining Equity and Adequacy in State School Finance Systems: A Look at New York's Experience The substantial reliance on local property tax revenues to finance school systems has led to significant funding disparities between property-rich and property-poor school districts. The recognition of these disparities has spawned decades of litigation in states whose constituents guarantee a high-quality education. Legislators and judges are often asked to reconcile ver different definitions of equity and adequacy, which are the concepts that underpin a high-quality, state-provided education, and are often confounded by attempts to achieve equity and adequacy on a state-wide basis, given the differences in property tax revenues. This article describes the complexities inherent in the concepts of equity and adequacy and examines a long-running attempt to reform New York's school financing methods to ensure that all school districts in the state have an equitable and adequate level of resources.
The Politics of Same-Sex Marriage: Tracing the Issue through Congress and the Courts The issue of same-sex marraige is currently a topic of fierce debate in this country. To help policy-makers, practioners, and members of the American public better understand both the topic and the direction of the debate, this article gives a brief history of the issue, describes some significant legislative and legal developments, and offers some comments on the ways in which the outcome of this debate could potentially affect federal policy. Assessing the 2004 Campaign Websites: The Role of the Internet in Elections and Civil Society The Internet is changing the face of political campaigns in the United States; not since the introduction of television have the tools used to communicate with the electorate changes so notably. This stud uses the 204 campaign websites created by the Democratic primary candidates and President George W. Bush to evaluate both the ways in which websites can help voters participate in democratic decision-making, and the ways in which websites may help candidates gain public support. We find that, given a list of 41 criteria deemed important to an inormative, participatory and easy to use website, the average candidate's site earned just over half of the possible points. Still, initial correlation analyses suggest that better websites may mean more votes on Election Day.
Policy Analysis and Planning in U.S. Foreign Policy: Interview with Dr. Mitchell Reiss, Director for Policy Planning, Department of State
On March 4, 2004, the Editor-in-Chief
and Managing Editor of Policy Perspectives sat down with Dr. Mitchell B.
Reiss, Director for Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, to
discuss the role of the policy analyst in U.S. foreign policy.
In 1992, Georgia unveiled the HOPE (Helping
Outstanding Pupils Educationally) program, a merit-based scholarship for
state residents funded entirely through a state lottery. Since then, the
immense popularity of the program has induced many states to try and capture
Georgia’s success with their own lottery-funded scholarship program. While
billed a success, there remain several questions about the effectiveness of
the HOPE program. This article examines HOPE’s
impact and asserts that the program may not prove to be the unqualified
success that many proponents claim.
When Zero-Sum Yields No Winners: The Case of Implementing Changes to Bilingual Education Even when clear outcomes arise from a political process, corresponding victories and defeats are not always translated into an implementation reality. The case of implementing recent changes to bilingual education law in Massachusetts serves as an apt example of such a phenomenon. In particular, two crucial educational implementation factors, perceived policy legitimacy and teacher motivation, and their interplay, will be analyzed vis-à-vis the policy approval and implementation processes. The methodology of this presentation will include both a direct analysis of Massachusetts’ situation and a comparative one with the more developed implementation process in California. From these analyses, possible implementation outcomes within Massachusetts will be presented along with suitable recommendations for spurring positive movement within the implementation process.
The 2000 presidential election revealed flaws in the integrity of the election process in the United States and elevated the issue of voting reform to the forefront of the national agenda. Additionally, a gradual decline in citizen participation in the democratic process has highlighted the need to increase access to voting to correspond to our modern era and lifestyles. Successful voting reform must not only modernize electoral systems to ensure integrity but also increase access to the system for all citizens. This is essential to the integrity of our democracy, as lawmakers are responsible to their constituents and, by extension, to those people who participate in the electoral process. Several alternative voting methods have been introduced in the U.S. and abroad. This article will examine two alternatives—online voting and voting-by-mail—in the context of their implementation and challenges to date, their overall feasibility and the extent to which they ensure integrity and increase access to the election process.
The growing problem of obesity in the U.S. has prompted calls
for government action, including the imposition of a “fat tax.” The author uses
microeconomic theory and a cost-benefit framework to explore the pros and
cons of a fat tax. She applies theories of rational and irrational consumer
decision-making to obesity-related consumption decisions and presents a
simple supply and demand model to suggest the likely consequences of a fat
tax. The author concludes that, before implementing a fat tax, additional
research is needed to determine if a fat tax is merely the latest fad or a
significant policy initiative that will make real contributions to correcting
a major health problem in the United States.
The Terrorist Risk
Insurance Act of 2002: The Federal Government’s Role in Addressing Losses
Caused by Terrorism In response to problems associated
with insuring against the risk of foreign terrorist attacks in the United
States, Congress passed The Terrorist Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA) to
help solve an availability and affordability crisis in the private
marketplace for terrorism risk insurance. TRIA established a temporary
three-year federal program that created a risk-sharing mechanism to provide
private insurance companies with a tool to manage the allocation of their
risk resulting from foreign terrorist attacks. The role of government in
helping to provide financial protection from losses not served by private
markets is not new, but protecting against terrorism risk is. TRIA and its
possible alternatives remain a topic of considerable discussion and debate as
our country continues to address the threat of terrorism in the United States.
One important element of this analysis is to determine what permanent role,
if any, the government should play in providing terrorism risk insurance to
address the market failure that occurred after September 11. Another is to
explore possible alternatives to the current temporary program.
Integrating Schools by Family Income: a Promising Education Reform or Unattainable Dream? This paper provides a review of the proposal to integrate public schools by family income. It examines research on achievement by students of all income levels in schools with concentrated poverty, trends in racial segregation, and the case in support of plans to balance schools by family income. The paper also provides a summary of the plans in place in two school districts, the response of key policy players to these plans, and the possible challenges to wider implementation.
Federal Class Size Reduction Policy - A Case Study Testing John W.ݠKingdon's Theory on Agenda Setting
Economic Self-Sufficiency and Implementation of TANF in the District of Columbia The District of Columbia has experienced the lowest reduction in percentage of welfare caseloads in the country since the 1996 welfare reauthorization. This study explores implementation of welfare policy that both facilitates and hinders the ability of DC welfare clients to become self-sufficient. Specifically, the paper explores the context of welfare clients' lives before and once on welfare and asks which welfare policies they perceive to be obstacles to their own self-sufficiency.
The
West African Republic of Mali faces the specter of mass starvation as a
result of 70-80%ݯf the population working as subsistence farmers on fragile
land. This analysis evaluates three potential plans of action that could help
develop the advanced skills and education of Mali residents. Potential
policies evaluated included the status quo, increased privatization of
state-owned enterprises and the development of a
advanced modern skills and modern economy.
|
|||||
|
|
||||||
|
Webmaster:
polpersp@gwu.edu Last updated April 22, 2008 |
||||||
