Search

We trace how privacy-encroaching technologies have unfolded over the course of human history and how such technologies have influenced human societies and economies; governments have been central to this evolution. We maintain that surveillance is inevitable: that the future of public administration will depend on how administrators and others navigate deep rifts in public fear (yet acceptance) of surveillance and other means of data collection. Finally, we argue for coordination among governance scholars, public administrators, public technologists, and civil society advocates in order to improve the institutions that govern the collection and use of data from surveillance activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the flow of federal grants-in-aid from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the states. We simultaneously model two dependent variables (the flow of EPA funds, and state environmental and natural resource budgets) to identify the independent roles of state political institutions, political preferences, economic and demographic characteristics, and the task environment. Our central focus, though, is on the relationship between grants and state spending after taking into account those direct effects. We examine the evidence for positive association (a flypaper effect) and negative association (crowding out). We show the different roles for political institutions, political preferences, demographic and economic characteristics, and the task environment in each spending context. Most importantly, we find evidence for a flypaper effect between federal funds and state spending: Federal spending and state spending are positively correlated after accounting for the contribution of the unique factors. (Contains 2 tables and 1 footnote.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the policy process that led to the passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in the United States and the Bush Administration's role in this process. Design/methodology/approach: The research design is historical and archival. A description of the NCLB Act is given and the major provisions and implementation are focused upon. How the Bush Administration helped create the opportunity to pass the NCLB Act by building coalitions, and how public opinion affected the evolution of the policy process is focused upon. Finally, a description is given on how policy ideas like the concept of "accountability" shaped the policy process, and both inspired and constrained the Bush Administration. Findings: The paper argues that the Bush Administration helped create the opportunity to pass the NCLB Act by building coalitions, and public opinion affected the evolution of the policy process. Policy ideas like the concept of "accountability" shaped the policy process, and both inspired and constrained the Bush Administration. Research limitations/implications: The case is limited to the United States and NCLB, although those cases are particularly important in North America and in evaluation-based research. Practical implications: The paper shows how a policy designer can be limited both by political initiatives and his or her own conceptual grounding. Originality/value: This paper is one of the first to connect the policy process that guided President Bush's design of the NCLB legislation with the concept of "accountability". Accountability is a foundational concept in the design of quality assurance systems. (Contains 5 figures and 8 notes.)