School of Public Administration

The dissertation is about the significance for, and impact upon public administration of the correspondence theory of truth or veridicality, and its underlying epistemological assumptions. The underlying thesis is that, unduly influenced by the success of the natural sciences, and naive in accepting their claims to objectivity, many disciplines have sought to emulate them. There are two principle objections. Firstly, all other considerations aside, the supposedly objectivistic methodologies apparently applied to the explanation and prediction of the behavior of interactions of physical objects, may simply be inappropriate to certain other areas of inquiry; and more specifically objectivist methodologies are indeed inappropriate to understanding of human subjects, and their behavior, relations and interactions, and thus to public administration. The second objection is that it is of course logically impossible for any supposedly empirical discipline, as the natural sciences claim to be, to justify the belief in a supposedly objective realm of things-in-themselves existing outside, beyond, or independently of the changing, interrupted and different 'appearances' or experiences, to which an empirical science is qua empirical, necessarily restricted. Correspondence of any empirical observations or appearances (and the consequent or presupposed theoretical explanations) to an objective realm, upon which the claim to objectivity is based, is unverifiable. In light of the above it becomes evident that far from being objective, the natural sciences themselves, and the empirical observations upon which they are supposedly grounded, are subject to conceptual mediation and subjective interpretation; subjective and inter-subjective coherence replacing objective correspondence as the criterion of veridicality. Consequently it becomes clear that the presuppositions and prejudices of the observers enter, in the forms of concepts and preconceptions, into the very observations, and even more so into the theoretical constructions, or theories, of the natural, and indeed human and social sciences, and their claims to be authoritative and true. Subsequent discussion is then focused on both the coherence of individuals' experiences and understanding, and their inter-subjective coherence - which both rises from and constitutes, a "community". The role of language facilitates such coherence.

State and local governments in the U.S. spend an estimated $80 billion annually on economic development incentives and subsidies. The economic development discourse is dominated by a jobs-centered narrative, with the concept of "jobs created" at its core. This work examines the current jobs-centered narrative and how it came to be. It identifies the practices and processes by which the current narrative persists and proliferates, analyzing its implications, which include the narrative's role in the use of corporate subsidies and incentives. This work is a critical history, identifying the point of establishment of a new equilibrium in the economic development narrative (Gaddis, 2002), utilizing ethnographic description to examine behaviors within the economic development arena. Language game dynamics (Wittgenstein, 1953) working to establish "public" meaning (Geertz, 1973) within economic developmen t are explored. Baudrillard's Phases of the Image (1994) are employed to view alternative meanings of the term "jobs created". Policy emulation (Bennett, 1991) as a means for the replication of economic development practices is examined. The work differentiates between policy emulation and convergence, arguing that emulation can and does occur in the absence of convergence, but can also act as its agent. Convergence was established as a possible end result of emulation, and necessary elements such as disparate starting policy positions must first be present in order for convergence to occur. The analysis reveals that the current jobs-centered narrative in economic development is a result of a complex language game. The economic development language game is a multi-faceted game with well-established roots and mechanisms for self-preservation and perpetuation. Emanating from communities' sense and fear of loss, relying on an unchallenged library of professional jargon which the public only vaguely understands, and ever reinforcing itself through the use of state and international industry organizations, the game is deeply entrenched in the field of economic development. The study concludes with recommendations for mitigation of the effects of the game. These findings have implications for how economic development aims and successes are measured and communicated, how governments expend resources in economic development and how the industry regulates its own activities.

This dissertation examines factors with influence on the organizational cultural competence of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems. The purpose of this study was to draw on theories of representative bureaucracy and transformational leadership to assess cultural competence in Emergency Medical Services systems from the perspective of EMS leadership, within careful consideration of the external environment in which EMS systems operate.

The purpose of this dissertation was to add to the literature on the school choice
debate and educational voucher programs through an analysis of Florida’s John M.
McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities. This dissertation looked at
the major aspects of school choice theory, parental satisfaction, and reasoning for choice.
A theoretical framework for analyzing school choice programs was put forth in this
dissertation through an analysis of the over-arching dynamical elements that have shaped
the administrative and political arguments for and against these programs. A
comprehensive review of the literature on school choice comprised a substantial part of
this study due to the need for citizens to better comprehend the origins and evolution of
school choice planning and programming.

This dissertation suggests that network governance theory may have reached an impasse, and in order to pursue its advance, new methods need to be used. It tests the viability of actor-network theory on providing new insights on network governance, which could contribute to the strengthening of network governance theory. The author suggests that actor-network theory may offer both an epistemology and ontology that intents to not impose current definitions and divisions of traditional social science. By doing so, actor-network theory focuses on the performance of associations rather than on the traditional categories of structures, institutions, individuals or groups -- characteristic of most network governance studies.

This dissertation examines environmental policymaking as more of a symboldriven ideological contest over meaning than a rationally discursive democratic process through two interpretive modes of research: historical narrative analysis and text analytic frame mapping. Both are applied to the case example of the city of San Diego’s controversial policy innovation of indirect potable reuse via reservoir augmentation, or “toilet-to-tap,” as it became known through local news media. The dissertation develops its theoretical foundation from the literature pertaining to political communication in public policy, including the role of signs and symbols, media theory, frames and framing, and agenda setting. Electronic documents are used as data.

The purpose of this study is to find out the effect of government spending on capital
investments in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 on GDP
and employment growth. This research utilized US quarterly data from 2003 QI to 2013
QII. In the first part the research used variables from the Keynes economic model and
utilized two-stage least square analysis to assess the effect of government spending on
GDP. The results from the regression analysis indicate that an increase of one dollar in
government spending increases GDP by 1.569 dollars. The researcher found that the
general government spending multiplier was 1.9. The coefficient for government
spending in the Recovery Act was 0.383, implying that for every one dollar in
government spending, Recovery Act spending on capital investments contributed 0.383
dollars.

Regulation of the nonprofit sector is a subject of significant debate in the
academic and professional literature. The debate raises questions about how to regulate the sector in a manner that addresses accountability while preserving the sector’s unique role in society. Central to the debate is the role of self-regulation.
The nonprofit sector is recognized and defended as a distinct third sector in
society. Cultural norms and values differentiate the purpose of the sector from the
governmental and commercial realms. The legal regime secures rights, establishes
organizational structures, and provides tax benefits that enable, reinforce, and protect
participation in nonprofit activities. Nevertheless, government regulation is thought to be
antithetical to sector autonomy, as well as an obstacle to flexibility and innovation. Selfregulation protects the sector’s political independence and its distinctiveness through the cultivation of shared norms, standards, and processes for ethical practices. Although self regulation is considered to be consistent with the autonomous nature of the sector, it is also criticized as a weaker form of regulation. The ability to address regulatory issues expressed in the broader debate is limited by how we frame nonprofit regulation. The problem with advancing our understanding of self-regulation has to do with how we conceptualize nonprofit regulation. Government and self-regulation are conceptualized and studied as distinct options for regulating the sector. Missing in the nonprofit scholarship is a theoretical framework capable of reframing nonprofit regulation as a system of governance that depends on self-regulation. This represents a glaring gap in the research. Neglecting the institutional context that explains the structure and functioning of the nonprofit sector has led to an oversimplification of nonprofit governance. To study the effects of self-regulation on the functioning of the sector, I argue that we must first frame what is relevant about how the nonprofit sector is governed. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework outlines a systematic approach for analyzing institutions that govern collective endeavors. The objective of this dissertation is to introduce the IAD as an approach for examining self-regulation not as an alternative to government regulation but as an important part of nonprofit governance.

This study explores the connections of public procurement official
perceptions of public-private partnerships and their contracting decisions for
public infrastructure projects. Detailed discussion of previous scholarship and its
focus on policymaking and project evaluation of public-private partnerships
leaves a gap in the public policy process – implementation. Procurement officials
are presented in the role of policy implementers rather than agents in a principalagent
approach. This attempts to address a shortcoming of the description that
these officials do nothing more than purchase. Arguments are put forth that these
officials are given additional levels of discretion when faced with contracting
decisions. Specifically, procurement officials observe that public-private
partnerships provide sets of project consequences. A survey instrument is designed to explore the differences in perceptions
that procurement officials have with respect to public-private partnerships and
traditional contracting out. Survey failures result in findings only being able to
attempt a more general view of public-private partnerships. Results allow
perceptions to be placed in a decision-making model based on a project phase
approach that develops on the assumption that tasks contracted to private
vendors produce project consequences. Furthermore, analysis of significant
consequence perceptions indicate that those perceptions do not provide a
rationale for a procurement official’s decision-making on whether to contract
using a public-private partnership for public infrastructure projects. Independent
sample t-tests, controlled correlations, multiple ANOVA and linear regression
analyses show that perceptions of consequences, the perceptions of differences
of those consequences across project phases, relationships of consequences to
perceptions of efficiency and effectiveness proxies and a bounded rationalitybased
model of decision-making for procurement officials are all inconclusive.
Discussion focuses on the development of consequences and phases as
defining and clarifying public-private partnerships. Further discussions are
presented for procurement officials with respect to their decision-making and
possible role as policy implementers. Conclusions fail to uncover any inferential
results. The research finds its primary contribution in the conceptual discourse of
public procurement official roles and public-private partnership definitions.

Narratives are a very important part of public policy negotiations and
deliberations. Public policy research has shown that policy narratives are manipulated to
fit the motives of the creators and enforcers of that narrative (Stone, 2002). The creators
and enforcers of these narratives use symbols, language, and other techniques to ensure
that the narrative survives and dominates the political and social environment by
becoming the favored policy prescription (Stone, 2002; Miller, 2012; Jones & McBeth,
2010; Schneider & Ingram, 1993). This study employs a qualitative content analysis to trace the genealogy of the following narratives that make up the “Stand Your Ground” discourse from 2005-2013: (1) Prosecutorial Discretion Narrative, (2) Vigilante Justice Narrative, (3) Race Narrative, and (4) Law-abiding Citizen Narrative. The “Stand Your Ground” discourse is used to test what this dissertation terms the “institutionalized policy narrative” thesis which
states, Policymakers and policy advocates use policy narratives which consist of powerful
symbols, politically motivated language, and ideographs to both shape and respond to
public opinions by appealing to both the heart and intellect of the public. Once a
winning narrative becomes institutionalized it is nearly impossible to replace that
winning narrative even in the wake of a powerful new emerging narrative.