Theses and Dissertations
NU’s master's theses and doctoral dissertations from 2008 to the present
Degree Level D.L.P. Remove constraint Degree Level: D.L.P.
Displaying 1 to 10 of 119
- Abstract
- Despite a growing body of literature on presidential rhetoric, the relative omission of executive planning documents, such as the National Security Strategy, has prevented scholars from fully exploring the foreign policy agendas promoted by U.S. presidential administrations. In doing so, my research asks the following questions: what is the relationship between public policy legitimation and the rhetorical strategies used in the National Security Strategy, and how can those rhetorical strategies help or hurt the White House's ability to advance the president's foreign policy agenda? Expand / collapse toggle
- Abstract
- The Arkansas premium assistance model, commonly known as the Private Option, is one of six alternative Medicaid waiver designs that have been approved in states to expand coverage for low-income adults. The waiver places adults age 19-64 and under 138% of poverty in the newly established health insurance exchange and uses Medicaid funding to purchase the premium payment for health plan coverage. The program began in January 2014. This qualitative descriptive study examined the key operational and program features of the Private Option in order to provide a formative evaluation of how well it is working at this early stage. The study also examined if this model, or similar models, might offer a promising path for the 19 states that have chosen not expand coverage for populations newly eligible for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Expand / collapse toggle
- Abstract
- This study focused on the impact that the Affordable Care Act has had on businesses. The research looks at how employers were influenced by this law and how they changed their employee benefits and hiring decisions within organizations. The research focused on senior human resource leaders within a variety of organizations, with a high percentage of respondents from higher education and non-profit industries. The employer mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act is new to employers who employ over 50 full-time equivalents. Changes that businesses have made to employer-sponsored benefit plans and decisions to hire full-time or part-time employees were determined. Expand / collapse toggle
- Abstract
- Rising housing costs and income inequality have placed the American dream of homeownership out of the reach of many citizens. In cities like the District of Columbia, the phenomenon of gentrification heightens this problem. The federal government has used a patchwork of programs and incentives to increase access to affordable housing, with many of these programs implemented at local levels of government. Despite these efforts, there remains a growing perception that government efforts have been ineffective at keeping pace with the demand for housing in low- and moderate-income communities. The purpose of this study is to analyze the experiences of a limited number of residents who received housing through publicly funded affordable housing programs implemented by the District of Columbia from 2015 to 2020. The objective is to assess the District's administration of programs to increase the availability of affordable housing during this period based on the perceptions of these recipients. This research will determine how well the District administers these housing programs for low- and moderate-income residents as perceived by recipients.--Author's abstract Expand / collapse toggle
- Abstract
- The purpose of this research study was to better understand how existing organizational constructs (e.g., law, policy, ethics training) may influence the decision of cleared national security contractors to report or communicate wrongdoing in the workplace. Federal employees and contractors with security clearances are legally bound to protect national security information. Whistleblowing statutes for federal employees and contractors differ, especially regarding protection from reprisal. Employees who seek recourse for reporting wrongdoing in the workplace lack guidance on how to disclose misconduct without revealing classified information. These gaps may influence the motivations of national security personnel and how, when, why, and to whom they choose to blow the whistle. Personal and public interest motivations for whistleblowing were explored through semi-structured interviews and a web-based survey. A non-experimental, non-observational, descriptive design approach was used to provide an account of research participant knowledge of and ability to access mechanisms to report waste, fraud, and abuse; the effectiveness of reporting channels for such disclosures; and experience with prohibited personnel practices (e.g., harassment, discrimination, reprisal). The study resulted in collection and analysis of information from 39 individuals belonging to a hard-to-reach and under-studied population, cleared federal contractors working in national security positions on behalf of the U.S. government. This research fills a void in the literature regarding the real and potential whistleblowing behavior of government contractors by examining the applicability of the spiral of silence theory to this population's knowledge, inclination, or experiences in speaking up and speaking out against workplace wrongdoing. Non-legislative policy solutions are presented to mitigate challenges to the protection of national security secrets. Expand / collapse toggle
- Abstract
- For more than five decades, African American voters have overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates in presidential elections. This electoral uniformity occurs despite demonstrable political diversity among African American voters. Previous scholarship has focused on the cause of this monolithic voting behavior and modeled descriptive frameworks based on racial solidarity, social bonds and inclusivity, and progressive policy positions on racial equality. Though there have been some attempts to discern the extent to which policy issues and voter attributes affect African American voting behavior, this electorate's political heterogeneity evinced in subgroup deviations from group norms deserves more attention. This study examines the influences on African American voting behavior that are often masked by party and racial group heuristics. I argue that the diversity of political views held by African American subgroups exists beyond a partisan veil of the bloc's electoral homogeneity. Using the factorial survey method, I find that while political party is the most dominant factor in the political judgments of African Americans, there are significant subgroup variations based on gender, income, and frequency of church attendance. Further, I find incongruence between the factors voters indicate are the most important and those factors that have the largest effect on their voting choices. This study evinces the coexistence of political heterogeneity and electoral uniformity among African American voters. It also offers new insights into the prioritization of electoral factors, ranging from the civil rights statutes to the African American unemployment rate, among this voting bloc. Expand / collapse toggle
- Abstract
- Police-community relations between law enforcement and Black communities are and have been further damaged due to a series of controversial events involving recent use-of-force measures initiated by predominantly White police officers and applied to predominantly Black men, women, and children across a thirty-year span. Law enforcement agencies cite legal non-compliance as the source of escalated actions. Simultaneously, communities of color attribute racial discrimination as the primary factor towards police misconduct and have subsequently initiated calls to action, in the form of civil and uncivil protests, to local, state, and federal government sectors for immediate reform. In response to shared concerns raised by law enforcement and communities of color, in 2011, a task force created by the Obama Administration confirmed lack of diversity and lack of consistent cultural competency training as major influencers and recommended increasing Black police enrollment percentages - as a potential solution towards mitigating racial tensions and legitimizing policing efficacy. In conjunction with these findings, the 116th and 117th Congress proposed several bills addressing police accountability, training, independent review, and data transparency. However, there is an ongoing debate in academia regarding whether an association between the increase of Black police officers and officer-involved shooting reduction exists. Therefore, using a phenomenological approach to interview 10 Black Boston police officers, findings revealed an association between Black police officer's involvement in police diversity initiatives and officer-involved shooting reduction exists.--Author's abstract Expand / collapse toggle
- Abstract
- Pictures of the Defund the Police protests often portray a group of angry protestors lined up in opposition to stern faced police officers guarded by military shields. It's Defund the Police or Blue Lives Matter. It has become an either-or contest regarding the role of police officers in American society. The stakes are high. Violent crime is on the rise. Police staffing is at risk due to low recruitment, low retention and high retirement rates. At the same time, minorities and persons with a psychosocial disability (PPD's) are dying at the hands of police with increasing visibility. There is a way out of the storm. This study seeks to ascertain whether alternative crisis response models provide a solution. Using a quantitative analysis of cities with populations over 100,000 in the year 2021, their crisis response model and police precipitated fatalities as the dependent variable, this study provides a framework for making policy recommendations regarding crisis intervention services in the Defund the Police era. This study finds that the Cahoots model of crisis intervention decreases police precipitated fatalities, while crime rate, police expenditures, and militarization all increase police precipitated fatalities. This study also finds, counter to previous studies, that increased percentages of black citizens actually decreases police precipitated fatalities--Author's abstract Expand / collapse toggle
- Abstract
- The focus of this research is to provide a framework for community colleges and community-based organizations to partner in a manner that improves student outcomes in persistence and graduation rates. The proposed framework encourages digital student engagement that assists students with their non-academic needs, such as hunger or homelessness. Community college retention and completion rates are important because the national completion rates at community colleges are subpar. The low completion rates at community colleges have led some policymakers to ask for more accountability and transparency in the community college sector. Expand / collapse toggle
- Abstract
- The number of immigrants coming into the United States and being detained continues to increase since the Trump administration's implementation of the zero-tolerance immigration policy. In response to these growing numbers, deportation continues as the first function of this immigration policy, even though deportation increases administration costs and reduces immigrant outcomes. The initial evidence suggests that the implementation of Family Case Management Program (FCMP) between January 2016 and June 2017 increased compliance rates and lowered administrative costs. Statistics have shown that deportation of these immigrants occurs less when the government implements an alternative immigration policy and program, such as the FCMP. Despite this, the FCMP and similar programs acting as alternatives to detention and deportation have been eliminated. There is a continued lack of funding to provide the necessary resources associated with successful adjudication and asylum for immigrant populations. Therefore, the purpose of this proposed qualitative, descriptive research was to explore the FCMP program to understand how the program resulted in lower costs and better outcomes for immigrants than programs where the focus was on placing undocumented immigrants into holding. The study showed that the FCMP was beneficial to immigrants and society, empowering immigrants using humane methods. Thus, the more dignified and ethically immigrant populations were treated, the more likely they would comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regulations and adjudication processes. These findings add to the knowledge needed to make equitable immigration policies for both immigrants and the communities in which they reside.--Author's abstract Expand / collapse toggle
Actions speak louder than words: policy legitimation and the national security strategy.
The Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion: examining the Arkansas private option as an alternative Medicaid waiver design to expand health insurance coverage for the uninsured.
The Affordable Care Act: impact on business.
An assessment of the District of Columbia's implementation of public funded affordable housing programs : a qualitative study of the program recipients perceptions of programming from (2015-2020).
Being green and in-between: an exploration of federal contractor whistleblowing in the national security state.
Beyond the veil: the electoral uniformity and political heterogeneity of African American voters.
Black America bruised in black & blue : the diversification of officers in law enforcement and officer-involved shooting reduction.
The calm in the storm: alternative crisis response systems in the era of the Back the Blue and Defund the Police.
Can partnerships with community-based organizations improve students' success at mid-size urban community colleges?
A case for change, the Family Case Management Program: a descriptive, qualitative study.
Displaying 1 to 10 of 119