Biden School of Public Policy & Administration

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The Biden School of Public Policy & Administration is a vibrant academic unit at the University of Delaware that has built a proud tradition of integrating academic excellence with professional practice.

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2013 issue
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2014 issue
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2018 Seoul Case Study Experience
(Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 2019) Young, Eileen
A Neighborhood-Based Urban Water Carrying Capacity Assessment: Analysis of the Relationship between Spatial-Demographic Factors and Water Consumption Patterns in Tehran, Iran
(Land, 2022-12-05) Tayebi, Safiyeh; Feizizadeh, Bakhtiar; Esfandi, Saeed; Aliabbasi, Banafsheh; Ali Alavi, Seyed; Shamsipour, Aliakbar
The upward trajectory of urbanization, coupled with the ever-growing demand for more water resources, has led to increased pressure on limited water resources, particularly in cities with dry climates such as Tehran. Since the balance of Tehran’s water ecosystems has been disturbed, and the quality and quantity of water resources have been affected in recent years, conducting an assessment of water environment carrying capacity (WECC) seemed vital for this city. WECC was used as the basis of water supply sustainability evaluation concerning Tehran’s land use and demographic characteristics on a neighborhood scale. Therefore, the effect size and correlation of 12 types of land use and six variables derived from the literature with water consumption patterns were examined in warm and cold seasons. The results show that land use, population density, percentage of deteriorated area, percentage of buildings over 30 years old, residential–commercial land use, and green spaces correlate significantly with water consumption. The percentage of deteriorated areas and buildings over 30 years old has a negative, and the rest has a positive impact on water consumption. It is also recommended to use the research findings to improve Tehran’s water environment carrying capacity and apply the proposed evaluation procedure to other cities. The results of this research can be used in planning large and densely populated cities with a neighborhood-oriented approach, in which local institutions play an essential role in attracting people’s participation and inclusive urban planning.
Achieving Carbon Neutrality: US and India Weigh Policy Options
(Biden School of Public Policy & Administration, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA, 2022-06-01) Krishnan, Palaniappa; Kasturi, Prahlad
The paper takes a critical look at the US and India positions on achieving carbon neutrality as per their commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. These are based on the climate change policies of the leaders of the two countries, President Joe Biden, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the COP 26 summit held in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021. Policy tools to achieve carbon neutrality such as cap and trade and carbon tax (both market-based approaches), regulations (command and control approach) and other economic incentives such as tax credits and subsidies are examined. Based on various empirical research published in the literature regarding the two countries, an assessment is made regarding the use of these tools to achieve the goals of efficiency, equity, liberty, and sustainability in the two countries. Carbon taxation at the national level is currently missing in both countries and has the potential to be a revenue source of climate finance. The US needs to assert its leadership among the OECD donor countries to provide climate finance to developing countries and direct more of such finance for adaptation to climate change among developing countries. Low Carbon Technology (LCT) transfer through trade is low among both countries and there is a need to accelerate this process. Innovations that are occurring in both countries presently in nuclear power, hydrogen power and other clean energy such as solar, hydroelectric, geothermal and biomass can provide a great fillip to early achievement of net zero emissions. International cooperation and partnership between the US and India are growing in pursuing nuclear and solar as clean fuels. However, stepped up co-innovation in clean energy between the two countries holds great dividends to achieve carbon neutrality in both countries.
Ambiguity among Partners: Understanding Power and Perception Under Conditions of Mutuality
(Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, 2022-10-05) Islett, Kimberley R.; Bryan, Tara K.; St Clair-Sims, Rebekah L.
Power is a construct that is relevant anytime two actors come together. Typically power examinations have been focused on assessments among actors with asymmetrical power profiles. We argue existing characterizations of power are insufficient to understand perceptions of relationship quality when partners have a more balanced power profile. This is the case with an important class of partnerships—those between governments and philanthropic Foundations. We assessed power mutuality and its effects on relationship quality with a mixed methods approach, relying heavily on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis techniques and interview data. Our findings point to new insights into those power relationships typically examined in the extant literature, those with asymmetry, as well as under condition of mutuality. With regard to asymmetrical power, we point to needed investigation into the role of intangible resources, such as knowledge and legitimacy, to achieve goals, rather than the predominant focus on financial and other tangible resources. With regard to conditions of mutuality, we illustrate that mutuality yields relational ambiguity in the relationship and results in partner tension. Furthermore, our study finds that under conditions of mutuality, resource contributions from the benefactor need to address instrumental organizational needs, not just needs that contribute to mission outcomes.
Answering the call: Offering and analyzing civil discourse opportunities in undergraduate public affairs education
(Journal of Public Affairs Education, 2022-12-06) Barnes, Philip; Morris, Michael P.; Pierce, Andrea L.; Shaffer, Timothy J.
The widening cracks in the foundations of American democracy are leading to appeals for higher educational institutions generally, and public affairs programs specifically, to offer more courses on civil discourse. In this paper, we conduct a curriculum scan to evaluate the extent to which public affairs programs have answered these calls at the undergraduate level. The findings indicate that civil discourse-themed courses are essentially absent in the largest undergraduate public affairs programs, leaving the calls woefully unanswered. Then, analyzing students’ pre-post survey responses from a new course that offered content on the intersection of civil discourse and public policy making, we find that a civil discourse-themed course can simultaneously answer the calls and ensure that students meet the objectives of baccalaureate public affairs education recommended by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. The results are encouraging for public affairs education and democratic governance alike.
Are LARC Users Less Likely to Use Condoms? An Analysis of U.S. Women Initiating LARC in 2008–2018
(Women's Health Issues, 2022-06-21) Eeckhaut, Mieke C. W.; Fitzpatrick, Katie
Introduction: Public health professionals have raised concern that increased use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) could raise women's risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), because LARC's superior pregnancy protection may decrease women's motivation to use a barrier method for supplemental pregnancy prevention. This study uses population-based data to examine whether condom use is lower, particularly among young women who are at increased STI risk, after initiating LARC versus moderately effective methods. Methods: With the 2011–2019 data files of the National Survey of Family Growth, we examine the percent of sexually active months with condom use in the year after LARC or moderately effective method initiation for a nationally representative sample of 2,018 women aged 15–44 years. Multinomial logistic models regressed condom use on method type and age group, as well as their interaction, while adjusting for key confounders. Results: The unadjusted likelihood of any condom use is substantially lower among women who initiated LARC versus moderately effective methods (12% vs. 37%), and this difference is greater among younger versus older women. After accounting for differences in women's reproductive and sociodemographic profiles, however, a statistically significant difference in condom use by method initiated remains only for those aged 20–34 years. Conclusions: Crude estimates suggest that condom use is lower after initiating LARC versus moderately effective methods, especially among young women. After accounting for the confounding effects of LARC users’ distinct profiles—particularly in terms of parity and teenage childbearing—the difference is decreased overall and no longer significant for adolescent women. Overall results indicate a need for new STI prevention strategies and policies that emphasize the importance of dual prevention for LARC users at risk of STIs.
Beyond Keifer Sutherland’s Designated Survivor, Recovering Washington, D.C.: An Examination of the District of Columbia’s Recovery Plan
(Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 2020) Cox, Zachary
The popular imagination, as exhibited by the television show Designated Survivor, constructs disaster recovery as a process performed by omnipotent government agents who guide action in ways that are comprehensive, fair, and efficient. However, as the National Disaster Recovery Plan and the District of Columbia Recovery Plan demonstrate, there is little understanding of the processes required to recover from a disaster. This paper examines the Plan for the District of Columbia’s Economic Recovery from disaster and proposes recommendations that could more easily streamline the planning and recovery of disaster in Washington, DC.
Consequences and dangers of gerrymandering: An ongoing threat to voter equality and fairness
(University of Delaware’s Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, Newark, DE, 2020) Schenk, Ellen
Despite the many movements and organizations dedicated to fighting against gerrymandering, gerrymandering and its various forms remain a current issue in elections. While gerrymandering has been an issue consistently brought before the Supreme Court, there has been no established measure to identify a gerrymandered district. There is a broad scope of literature surrounding suggested measures, such as the efficiency gap, the mean-median gap, and the seats-to-votes curve. Gerrymandering presents a clear and present threat to the equality of elections due to the lack of competition and an unfair process of redistricting. Reforms such as guidelines for commissions and the 2020 census need to be undertaken to ensure a fair and just reapportionment process.
Critical facility accessibility and road criticality assessment considering flood-induced partial failure
(Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure, 2022-11-25) Gangwal, Utkarsh; Siders, A. R.; Horney, Jennifer; Michael, Holly A.; Dong, Shangjia
This paper examines communities’ accessibility to critical facilities such as hospitals, emergency medical services, and emergency shelters when facing flooding. We use travel speed reduction to account for flood-induced partial road failure. A modified betweenness centrality metric is also introduced to calculate the criticality of roads for connecting communities to critical facilities. The proposed model and metric are applied to the Delaware road network under 100-year floods. This model highlights the severe critical facility access loss risk due to flood isolation of facilities. The mapped post-flooding accessibility suggests a significant travel time increase to critical facilities and reveals disparities among communities, especially for vulnerable groups such as long-term care facility residents. We also identified critical roads that are vital for post-flooding access to critical facilities. The results of this research can help inform targeted infrastructure investment decisions and hazard mitigation strategies that contribute to equitable community resilience enhancement.
Editors’ Essay: Questioning Our Past, Moving into the Future
(Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, 2022-07-19) Isett, Kimberley; Sowa, Jessica
As we take the helm of Perspectives on Public Management and Governance (PPMG), we want to take this opportunity to communicate our direction and ideas for the future of the journal. This starts with considering theory and its role in public management. The role of theory is to help us make sense of the world around us—to take stock of what we know and attempt to bring order out of chaos. Across academic fields and disciplines, peer-reviewed journals that focus on the development and advancement of theory are the home for that kind of knowledge. PPMG, as such a journal, has an obligation to cast a wide net to capture how knowledge and important relationships shift over time in public management. Good theory is enduring. Scholars who develop theory have an obligation to remain open to questioning their fundamental assumptions and biases—and we all have them—so that these underlying currents are surfaced and explored to determine how they affect how we view the world and how those currents change over time.
Electric vehicle adoption in small island economies: Review from a technology transition perspective
(Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, 2022-02-15) Shah, Kalim U.; Awojobi, Mohammed; Soomauroo, Zakia
Small Island States present features, such as compact road networks, low commuter distances, and often large tourism service sectors, that could make the adoption of electric vehicles for transportation which is an attractive way to reduce their costly dependence on imported fossil fuel and their greenhouse gas emissions. Through the transition theory lens, we review the national policy measures and broad clean transportation targets that small island countries are implementing to encourage electric mobility deployment. From information compiled for 18 small island countries, we find a growing trend in electric vehicle and infrastructure development incentives among broader clean transportation transformation policies and nationally determined contribution targets; and large country-to-country variations in enabling conditions to smoothen EV transition. Small island countries are not uniform but instead are very dispersed across the transition S-curve. The review, therefore, finds that the mobility transition requires island-specific approaches and solutions that will accentuate critical policy and management elements for fostering transitions.
Evaluation of Land Use Efficiency in Tehran’s Expansion between 1986 and 2021: Developing an Assessment Framework Using DEMATEL and Interpretive Structural Modeling Methods
(Sustainability, 2023-02-20) Tayebi, Safiyeh; Alavi, Seyed Ali; Esfandi, Saeed; Meshkani, Leyla; Shamsipour, Aliakbar
This paper aims to reveal the shortcomings of the land use efficiency assessment formula presented in SDG 11.3.1 Indicator and develop a framework that can provide urban planners with a more accurate understanding of the variables influencing and/or influenced by urban expansion. Based on the mentioned formula, Tehran never experienced urban shrinkage between 1986 and 2021, as shown by the relationship between land consumption and population growth. However, the research findings indicate that land allocation patterns have not only decreased most urban services per capita, but have also undermined ecosystem services during this period. In this paper, we propose a new assessment framework by which a dual aspect of urban planning is addressed, namely providing sustainable urban services while protecting natural resources, and using ecosystem services sustainably to support cost–beneficial urbanization. For this purpose, a total of ten mainly repeated contributing variables were collected in the categories of environmental, physical-spatial, and economic–social effects of urban expansion. A questionnaire based on these variables was prepared, and 14 urban planning experts collaborated to classify the variables and identify causal relationships between them. In the following, data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using DEMATEL and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) methods to determine which variables influence and/or are influenced by urban expansion (and to what extent). Third-level variables that directly influence urban expansion include transportation (A6), infill development (A7), and entrepreneurship (A10). Spatial justice (A8) and housing and population attraction (A9) were identified as middle-level variables that both affect and are affected by urban expansion. Finally, land surface temperature (A1), air pollution (A2), sewage and waste (A3), water resources (A4), and vegetation (A5) were identified as first-level variables that are mainly affected by urban expansion.
Examining Intersections between Open Government and Nonprofit Advocacy: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives about an Emerging Relationship
(The International Research Society for Public Management, 2014-04-09) McNutt, John; Justice, Jonathan; Carter, David
The creation of open and transparent government has long been a goal of reformers, students of democratic institutions and progressives of all stripes. The argument is that a transparent government is more stable, better functioning and enjoys a higher level of support (Justice, McNutt. & Smith, 2011). The International movement toward open government is a major force in public management (Lathrop & Ruma, 2010). While many in the nonprofit sector would support open government (and have actively advocated for it), the function that is most affected is nonprofit advocacy. Advocates can directly benefit from open government. Information is the lifeblood of nonprofit advocacy and much of the information that advocates require is the target of open government programs (see Berry & Arons, 2002; Libby, 2011; Bass, Arons, Guinane & Carter, 2007). This paper will explore the relationship between nonprofit advocacy and policy making and the movement toward open government. We will develop a theoretical model that describes the relationship between the sector in general and nonprofit advocacy in specific, on the one hand, and open government efforts on the other. We will illustrate the model with empirical findings from a recent study of the use of transparency data by advocates in a single state. In this research we surveyed the population on nonprofits that employed a legislative advocate. The study dealt with the use of information by advocates and the utility of open government/transparency resources for improving the quality of advocacy.
Exploring the characteristics and activities of American Transition initiatives
(None, 2015-12-12) Sarzynski, Andrea; Barnes, Phillip
Observers have raised concern over the diversity of the communities participating the Transition Movement (Alloun & Alexander, 2014; Chatterton & Cutler, 2008; Seyfang, 2009). To investigate, the following material examines racial and socioeconomic characteristics of the American communities participating in the international Transition Network, known in the United States as Transition United States (hereafter, TUS). We ask whether the communities housing participating initiatives illustrate less diversity than the typical American community, as has been suggested by prior anecdotal observation, and whether we can group the communities by common characteristics. We also relate these characteristics to selected activities in which the Transition communities were, are planning, or had been participating in as of mid-2014. We ask whether the types of communities are more likely to engage in certain transition activities. The results do not conform to expectations, illustrating substantial variability in the characteristics of the participating Transition communities as well as in the activities that those communities are engaged. The results improve our understanding of the current practice of Transition communities and the communities that they serve.

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