Improving Public Service Education Programs through Assessing the Performance of MPA Alumni

Educational outcomes assessment can improve public service education programs. This article applies the Model of Learning Outcomes for Public Service Education which suggest that enabling characteristics—factors that mediate the relationship among immediate, intermediate, and longer term outcomes—can improve our understanding of public service education. A survey was conducted of alumni at The George Washington University in Washington, DC, and the American University in Cairo in Cairo, Egypt. The responses from the two groups of MPA program alumni were striking: curriculum understanding and application were markedly similar, suggesting that this model is appropriate for use in different contexts.     

Convergence in British Cultural Policy: The Social,the Cultural,and the Economic

It is increasingly the case that cultural policy at all levels of governance is expected to address a suite of concerns much broader than those traditionally associated with the arts and creative practice. Indeed, in many nations, including most notably Britain, the concerns of cultural policy now embrace the economic and the social, as well as the cultural. In Britain, this convergence is occurring as part of a broader policy concern to ameliorate social exclusion by providing people with opportunities to participate in the creative economy. Drawing on the findings of a major study of the factors shaping cultural policy internationally, this article identifies and maps the priorities, key intersections, and convergences associated with these priorities in British cultural policy. The article argues that, in spite of taking different forms and having varying emphases depending on the constituency and the level of governance involved, the convergence agenda currently dominating British cultural policy is nevertheless remarkably consistent in terms of the discourses surrounding culture, the remit of the cultural sphere, and strategic policy implementation.     

The Tragedy of Liberalism How Globalization Caused the First World War

The belief that globalization enhances peace, a central tenet of liberal theory, enjoys substantial support in recent scholarship on trade and conflict. To conclude that liberalism is right, however, is premature and wrong. Liberal theory is not sufficiently grounded in international trade theory to show how globalization generates constraints on military force, nor does it adequately link these constraints to strengthened peace. This article uses the Heckscher-Ohlin model of trade to connect globalization's economic effects to increased constraints on military force and then explores how, in the nineteenth century, globalization affected European peace. As liberal theory predicts, globalization generated substantial constraints on military force in prewar Europe. Yet there are important flaws in liberalism's logic linking these constraints to strengthened international peace. Contrary to liberal theory, globalization did not strengthen prospects for peace in prewar Europe but was a major cause of the First World War.     

A Psychosocial Risk-Targeted Intervention to Reduce Work Disability: Development, Evolution, and Implementation Challenges

Research has been consistent in showing that certain psychosocial variables can increase the risk for prolonged work disability. Four psychosocial variables have emerged as robust predictors of disability across a wide range of debilitating health and mental health conditions. These include catastrophic thinking, symptom exacerbation fears, disability beliefs, and perceived injustice. The Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP) is a psychosocial risk-targeted intervention that was developed to reduce psychosocial barriers to work resumption in individuals with debilitating health or mental health conditions. This paper describes the conception, developmental process, and the evolution of the PGAP. Research studies are summarized that have played a significant role in the developmental trajectory of the PGAP. Some of the legal and legislation-relevant challenges that were faced in the development and implementation the PGAP are discussed.     

Political learning during the 2000 U.S. presidential election: The impact of the campaign on the gender gap in political knowledge

We examine how political campaigns influence individuals’ levels of correct, incorrect, and don’t know responses and the gender gap in political knowledge during the 2000 American presidential campaign. Using data from the 2000 National Annenberg Election Survey (NAES), we demonstrate that as the campaign progresses the electorate provides more correct answers and fewer incorrect answers. Moreover, the political campaign significantly reduces (and possibly eliminates) the direct effect of sex on political knowledge. While the political campaign decreases the number of incorrect answers provided by both men and women, the number of correct answers provided by women increases. Our findings highlight the importance of the political campaign in determining relative levels of political knowledge for men and women.     

Getting a Job is Only Half the Battle: Maternal Job Loss and Child Classroom Behavior in Low-Income Families

This study uses data from an experimental employment program and instrumental variables (IV) estimation to examine the effects of maternal job loss on child classroom behavior. Random assignment to the treatment at one of three program sites is an exogenous predictor of employment patterns. Cross-site variation in treatment-control differences is used to identify the effects of employment levels and transitions. Under certain assumptions, this method controls for unobserved correlates of job loss and child well-being, as well as measurement error and simultaneity. IV estimates suggest that maternal job loss sharply increases problem behavior but has neutral effects on positive social behavior. Current employment programs concentrate primarily on job entry, but these findings point to the importance of promoting job stability for workers and their children.     

The 2012 sandy hook elementary school shooting: Connecticut’s department of mental health crisis response

This article reports on the role, activities, and lessons learned of a state mental health authority—the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services—in responding to the mental health needs of families and community members following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Following the introduction, we provide a brief case study of Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ role in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting. This role included use of the Incident Command System (ICS) to deploy a standing statewide network of clinicians who provided direct care for surviving children and school personnel, victims’ family members, and others, and coordination of its mental health response with the activities of other state, private, and individual players. We then discuss key themes and lessons learned and offer recommendations to mental health authorities for planning and implementing their own responses to possible like incidents in the future.