Comparative Civic Culture Reese, Laura A.; Rosenfeld, Raymond A.
2012, 20160523, 2016-05-23, 2016-05-26, 2012-03-01, 20120101
eBook
The quest for a theoretical framework for understanding urban policy-making has been a recurring focus of research into local governments. Civic culture is a means for understanding how municipal ...policy-makers weigh the interests of different groups, govern the local community, frame local goals, engage in decision-making, and ultimately select and implement public policies. While it seems that culture 'matters' in local policy making, how to measure culture in a valid and replicable fashion presents a significant challenge which the authors address in this book. They present their findings of a large multi-city research project to explore the nature of civic culture in cities in the US and Canada. The focus of their analysis is on three overarching 'systems' of community power system, the community value system, and the community decision-making system. The authors address a number of questions around the nature of civic culture and the relationships between the three systemic elements of civic culture, to refine and apply a more sophisticated theory of urban policy-making.
This research explores connections between the nature of a community, the type of animal shelter it has, how animals arrive at the shelter, and outcomes for the animals in terms of adoption or ...euthanasia. Based on data from Shelter Animals Count, the study concludes that the nature of the local community is related to the type of shelter it is served by, how dogs arrive at the shelter, and directly to outcomes. Areas with greater economic stress and lower educational attainment are more likely to have a municipal shelter, which increases stray intake, and ultimately euthanasia. Community economic stress is also directly associated with lower adoption and higher euthanasia rates. The findings of the study suggest a multi-pronged strategy to increase adoptions and reduce euthanasia focusing on both animal shelters but also using a One Health approach to improve the welfare of both humans and non-human animals.
Immigration has been found to be an economic stimulus to cities increasing entrepreneurialism, driving up wages for all workers, reducing crime, and rejuvenating local neighborhoods and business ...areas. Given the array of potential benefits of immigrants, local governments may consider attracting and supporting immigration as an economic development tool. Using data from two national surveys conducted by the International City/County Management Association on immigrant supportive and economic development policy, the research finds that generally, the use of immigrant supportive policies is less prevalent than more traditional economic development policies. Further, local officials do not appear to be conceptualizing immigrant supportive policies as part of their economic development efforts. Yet, there are municipalities and counties that balance the use of the two types of policies.
There is a dearth of studies comparing the relative explanatory power of several major theories related to policy support for immigrants specifically in the context of local policies (as opposed to ...those at the state and national levels) and related to immigrant settlement and attraction (as opposed to welfare or legal benefits). By testing alternate explanations of local immigration policy, the analysis contributes to the development of theory related to policymaking in this area. Based on a national survey of municipalities across the US there is little evidence that racial threat theory limits local immigrant supportive policies. However, the policy determinants differ by the type of immigrant attraction and support policy examined.
Volunteers are a critical resource for many types of organizations and efforts need to be made to ensure they are satisfied with their experience. Using data from an online survey of 651 animal ...shelter volunteers this research explores the role of volunteer input or "voice" in the policies and practices of organizations, and its impact on satisfaction with the volunteer experience. The findings indicate that volunteers more negative about their opportunities for voice were significantly less satisfied with their experience overall. Further, there appears to be a relationship between the nature of the animal shelter and satisfaction with voice and the volunteering experience. Indeed, internal shelter factors are more important to volunteer satisfaction than the traits of the individual volunteer. Specifically, volunteers are more satisfied with their experience and with the extent of their opportunity for voice if they are at a limited intake shelter with higher save rates. Informed by survey data, this research recommends shelters implement several policies and practices to improve satisfaction with volunteer voice.
It has become increasingly difficult to define progressive municipalities and progressive economic development. Conceptions of “local economic development” tied to neoliberal agendas are often ...narrow, focusing on efforts to offset perceived disadvantages of a location. Many traditional incentive policies result in a transfer of wealth from the public to the private sector. In this article, we consider whether the introduction of progressive economic development policies into the present neoliberal context might result in improved outcomes in terms of increased equity and democratic empowerment. However, progressive policies in one sector of intervention can yield nonprogressive outcomes in another. We conclude that progressive economic development policies are likely an oxymoron and recommend a complete reconceptualization of what “economic development” means.
Although nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT)-deficient C57BL/6J (6J) mice are known to be highly susceptible to diet-induced metabolic disease, this notion stems primarily from comparisons ...of 6J mice to other inbred strains. To date, very few studies have directly compared metabolic disease susceptibility between NNT-deficient 6J mice and NNT-competent C57BL/6 substrains. In this study, comprehensive profiling of the metabolic response to a high-fat/high-sucrose diet (HFD) were compared across time in 6J and C57BL/6NJ (6N) mice. Given that increased peroxide exposure drives insulin resistance, coupled with the fact that NNT regulates peroxide detoxification, it was hypothesized that 6J mice would experience greater derangements in redox homeostasis/metabolic disease upon HFD exposure. Contrary to this, both lines were found to be highly susceptible to diet-induced metabolic disease, as evidenced by impairments in glucose tolerance as early as 24 h into the HFD. Moreover, various markers of the metabolic syndrome, as well as peroxide stress, were actually blunted, rather than exacerbated, in the 6J mice, likely reflecting compensatory increases in alterative redox-buffering pathways. Together, these data provide evidence that the susceptibility to HFD-induced metabolic disease is similar in the 6J and 6N substrains. Given the numerous genetic variances in the 6J stain, including loss of NNT function, these findings suggest that the 6N substrain is the more logical and representative genetic background model for metabolic studies.
Animal shelters and rescues are typically judged on their live release rates. The number of companion animals adopted and then returned to the shelter is not as frequently considered. Matching ...programs are implemented to reduce the chances that a companion animal will be returned after adoption by assuring the best possible "match" between adopter needs, wants, and lifestyles, and the behaviors and needs of the animal. This research is based on data from 370 animal shelters and rescues across the US and assesses the prevalence of and the relationship between different aspects of matching programs and outcomes such as return, live release, and euthanasia rates, and days in the shelter. Several elements of matching programs appear to be associated with positive outcomes: conducting matching conversations before potential adopters see any dogs, showing only dogs that are a good match, and limiting choice to those dogs that are deemed the best fit.
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